Schoolhouse Rock: The Lost Chronicle
by RexRock
Summary: [NOVELISED AND BROKEN DOWN] This story is a hidden chapter to the original "Schoolhouse Rock". This time it's 1989 and Neo Cortex faces a new enemy... and a friend for the future.
1. The Return to Florida

-AUTHOR'S NOTES-

Wow, this fanfic marked one of my first attempts at being more equal with dialogue and narration, as well as holding a record for the Longest Ending Ever™ at that moment in time.

This marks the second story in the "Schoolhouse Rock" set. This story takes place in July 1989, where the travels of Neo Cortex and his friends bring him over to the city of Miami in Florida. And it's there that he gets brought straight in the middle of a war across the city, between the tyrannical forces of Sergeant Oxtail Soup and a team of rebel anthropomorphic creatures lead by Charles Medulla IV.

I saw this as a big jump in comparison to past fanfics, but I was still set to write it as it was.

Hope you enjoyed seeing this as much as I enjoyed writing it. :D

Peace out,

-Rexy-

* * *

The scene opens out in a dark scarlet tent. The room was dimly lit and there were very few details on the wall that we could ever make out. Silver chimes shone from a dimly lit candle in the middle of the room and a wooden skeleton was dangling under a small picture that couldn't be made out.  
In the middle of the darkened room, two people were sitting in front of each other on a round table with the silky covering only just be shown. One of the people were moving their hands around a round glass object and glaring into it, while the other was waiting patiently. As the people came towards the light they showed themselves as a black skinned psychic and a turtle without a shell, but wears leather.  
"Only two of the gentlemen made it out alive", the Psychic continued speaking to the turtle. "Cruel and selfish, and then they got shipwrecked after a thunderstorm... the third was thrown in prison for helping the evil... and the final one died a terrible death... and was never..."  
"That's it", the turtle interrupted. "I'm outta here", she said before leaving the room. "I wanted to see MY future, not theirs!"  
There was silence in the room for a while, before the psychic looked on towards the entrance of the tent.  
"Next please!"  
The curtains opened, and in came what looked like a knight on steroids. He progressed towards her with a jolly smile on his face. Once again the psychic "focused" on the glass ball."  
"I see... I see... I see four young gentlemen", she started over.  
The knight was left to give off an abrupt cough, before leering on at the psychic. She was left to give off an embarrassed smile back.

* * *

The atmosphere outside was more than just friendly – roller coasters can be seen for miles, the kids were screaming and the aroma of candyfloss was everywhere. That's right – this is a fun fair. The turtle came out from a blue and yellow striped tent with an angry look on her face. She came towards three beings standing nearby – a human girl, a female bear and a young cat.  
"How did it go, Misty?" the human asked the turtle with a peaceful voice.  
"Not too good. She told me the future of an N-tattooed jackass, not mine!"  
"Ah, it doesn't matter – not all psychics are perfect", nodded the bear with a deep voice. "No one knows what's in your future. Not even God."  
"But Corona!" the turtle started to panic.  
"I know you want to see what kids you'll end up with", nodded Corona, "but we need a man first. And don't pull that angry face at me – it's not gonna work. He'll come when you least expect it." She then turned to the human girl. "Right Gadget?"  
"Yeah", she sighed. "I've had 19 boyfriends on the trot and yet I never kissed one."  
"See – it's not so bad", sympathized the bear.  
"Yeah", Misty growled back. "I bet Travis here will have better luck."  
"I hope so", smiled the young cat. "Now can we pleeeeeeease go to the shooting thing?"  
"Hold your horses", giggled Gadget. "We'll be ready to take you there when-"  
It was too late – Travis already ran off towards the other side of the fairground.  
"Hey, wait for me!" Misty cried out towards him while she started running.  
Gadget soon followed. "Slow down – I can barely run in these shoes!"  
And then came Corona. "Oi! Don't leave me behind!"

* * *

**-A FAN FICTION PRODUCTION-**

-A fanfic by RexRock

**_-SCHOOLHOUSE ROCK: The Lost Chronicle-_**

* * *

****

_-July 4th 1989, 4:29pm-_

Travis was the first to make it over to the games area, while the others had problems getting there. They were gasping for air madly as soon as they got there.  
"Next time Travis, not so fast", Corona gasped.  
"Sorry!"  
From behind one of the benches of the gaming area came a lean figure that spoke with the voice of a circus ringmaster. "Get yourself lucky at the shooting gallery! Knock all the cans down with two shots and you win a prize, one shot and you get a more expensive gift."  
"How much?" Travis asked him.  
"A dollar a turn!"  
Travis quickly paid for his turn and grabbed a shotgun with a foam rifle stuck in it. He took aim for a few seconds… and then he pulled the trigger. The cans were knocked down in one shot.  
"YAY!!!!!!" he jumped up and down screaming. "I WON! I WON!!!!!!"  
"Here's your prize, young man!" smiled the staff employee.  
Travis received a Game Boy from the employee. His eyes lit up and as he turned it around...  
"WHOA – I'VE GOT DONKEY KONG!!" he shouted, struggling to keep his excitement.  
"Hey, I know that you're excited young man", Corona smiled, "but how about you keep it nice and safe from the bad guys." She then took the Game Boy from him and put it in her backpack.  
"But why?" Travis frowned.  
"Because Sergeant Oxtail Soup may strike this place when we least expect it, and he may steal the prize from you", Gadget nodded.  
"What does he want a Game Boy for?" Travis asked curiously.  
"The kid's got a point", growled Misty.  
"Well you never know what that vicious strongman will do to us", Gadget frowned. "Remember what he did last week to Misty's friend Bubble? He stole over half of his hat collection!"  
"Oh yeah", Travis frowned.  
"Well you have to keep your precautions", nodded Corona. "Who knows when he could strike..."

* * *

The scene changed to outside the mystic tent. Outside, the psychic and the steroid knight emerged from the tent. Then they glanced at each other.  
"Are you sure this plan is gonna work?" asked the psychic.  
"Of course it will. As soon as Gadget's forces are down there is no one left to stop me", he said, cackling.  
"What about the others – Chad, Bubble, Kiwi and Goliath?" the psychic asked.  
"They're weak targets, we already know that", the knight snickered. "Once they are ALL out of the way, the US State of Florida will see a day like no other."  
But then, from behind the tent came a mysterious yet familiar figure, followed by three others. They were seen in shadow-like forms, with only their eyes glowing in the darkness – the leader had green, while his partners had blue, purple and brown respectively.  
"You there!" he started speaking. "If you want to take over the State, let us be of your acquaintance."  
The knight and the psychic faced each other in the eyes, and nodded at the same time.

* * *

" I'm sorry but it's getting close to 5pm", sighed Gadget as she looked at her watch while walking closer towards the fairground exit. "We have to leave."  
"But Gadget, I wanna ride the Terror Coaster!!!" Travis frowned towards her.  
"Look here", smiled Corona. "This fun fair is only 10 miles from home, so we can ride on it tomorrow."  
"But..." the cat hesitated.  
Misty gave out a sigh. "Maybe we should cheer 'im up with a trip to KFC."  
"Good idea!" Gadget smiled back.  
"You'll be fried chicken in a minute!" said a nearby voice from the distance.  
There was an explosion from the dodgems. As it cleared out, the ride was destroyed.  
"Darn! That was my favourite!" Misty growled towards the explosion.  
And from through the smoke the familiar figures came into view, with the knight and the psychic coming near them.  
"Oh no", Corona gasped. "Sergeant Soup!"  
"And Mozzarella Cheese!" Gadget exclaimed while jumping up.  
"And," Misty pointed towards the other four figures, "who the hell are THEY?"  
"Girls", started Soup, "I'd like you to meet the Cortex siblings."  
"That's right", said one of the figures. He stepped out into the light to show himself as a figure with blue shoulder-length hair, baggy clothing and a monkey tail from behind him. "I heard about you guys from these generous souls", he said while gesturing towards Soup and Mozzarella.  
"HEY!" They both screamed in unison.  
"And now I'm happy to help them take you out once and for all!" Tiko finished with a cackle.  
Travis instantly gave out a scream. "I WANNA GO HOME!!!!!!!"  
"I know, but these freaks will follow us!" Corona started to panic.  
"It's gonna take a miracle to get out of this one", frowned Misty. "Wait a minute – the Cortex siblings... that rings a bell!"  
"STOP PONDERING AND START FIGHTING!!!!!" Gadget screamed out towards her.  
"AYE!" the others saluted towards her.  
All four of them charged towards the newfound six, but little did they know they were outnumbered. Misty said that it will take a miracle to break out, and a miracle it could be.

* * *

The temperature outside the city was 90ºF in the shade, yet the vision of the area is still perfect. On a desert freeway up ahead, only one car can be seen, travelling in the East direction.  
At a closer range we are able to see a cream-coloured jeep, and yet some familiar heroes from a while back were travelling in it. Two of them were at the front, yet a further two were at the back. We finally recognise them as Neo Cortex (in the driver's seat), Snappy Gator, Boron and Nitrus Brio – the original "Take Down Tiko" team.  
"How far is it to Washington?" Neo asked the others.  
Brio looked on at the road ahead of him. He donned a sombrero and some pastel clothing, with his head being layered in a slim shape. The jeep went past a green sign, telling the answer, leaving him to look on at Neo – he himself had bushy black hair covering his head, with a beard formed around his mouth. And his clothing was no different than Brio's aside from their more green color.  
"About 1580km from here", Brio replied back while reading the sign.  
"Bummer!" Snappy growled back. He was shown as an anthro alligator in red, white and blue combat clothing.  
Boron, a purple wolverine in rag-like clothes, gave out a worried howl. Then there was silence for a few further seconds.  
"How far is it to Chicago?" Neo asked again.  
Another sign came up and told the answer.  
"About 2125km from here", Brio replied back.  
"Major bummer!" Snappy sighed.  
Boron gave out another worried howl. Then there was an oozing-like sound. Snappy looked down at his belly with a puzzled look.  
"Uh-oh... he then leant towards the front. "How about supper?"  
Three signs came one by one, with these messages – _"Supper?" "You just ate your dinner" "Fat boy"_.  
"But I'm an alligator!" he retaliated back.  
Another sign came up with an unnecessary remark - _"OK, fat gator then"_.  
"Er guys, the signs are talking to us!" Snappy panicked.  
"Ha ha, and I'm David Bowie", sighed Neo with sarcasm.  
Suddenly, Brio gave out a gasp before standing up in his seat. "LOOK UP AHEAD – THERE'S CIVILISATION!"  
A city skyline came into view, and by the first sight, everyone's eyes started to light up.  
"Unbelievable!" Neo smiled over at it. "We're back home!"  
"No we're not", sighed Snappy. "This looks nothin' like Panama."  
"I know, but I can recognize the state like that skate-park near my old home. Gentlemen, welcome home to Florida!"  
Snappy then started to point further at the town. "Lemme guess the town – it's Miami!"  
"How can you tell?" asked Brio.  
"I can recognise them skyscrapers! I used to live in one of those!"  
"OK, if that's the case, maybe you should try and lead us to somewhere to stay for the night", sighed Neo.  
"Fine. I will."  
"But we're just... er..." Brio remained silent before another sign came up. "...17km away from the suburbs."  
"Hey – these signs seem pretty friendly", Snappy grinned.

* * *

A series of missiles, rifles and whatnots were being fired every second, and yet, the forces of Tiko and Sgt. Soup have the others on the run. Within the next few seconds, Mozzarella gave Gadget the Stone Cold Stunner to the ground, Hallie – a female with orange-blonde hair, purple eyes, a crimson pointed hat and a green wetsuit with long sleeves - came up to Misty and pinned her down with her whip, Lio – a male with scruffy green hair, a red baseball cap, one brown eye with his other over the empty socket of the other - tossed his ooze over at Corona, who didn't have time to escape, and Deksta – a female with pink hair attached with a small white bow, blue eyes, a blue shirt and green trousers - got out a buzzer and electrocuted Travis at the highest voltage possible.  
"TRAVIS!!!!!" Gadget screamed towards him. She got up from her feet and dashed over to him, stopping at his feet. "Are you all right?"  
"Urgh..."  
"I know you're suffering, but we'll get you out of here – I promise."  
Then two thoughts came into her mind – two familiar thoughts from later on in the day.

* * *

"What does he want a Game Boy for?" Travis asked curiously.  
"The kid's got a point", growled Misty.  
"Well you never know what that vicious strongman will do to us", Gadget frowned.

* * *

"It's gonna take a miracle to get out of this one", frowned Misty.

* * *

After that, she then leered into the crooks' eyes and stood there while focusing her physical energy.

* * *

At this stage the cream-coloured jeep stopped in a small outdoor parking lot and soon after, the whole crew stepped out.  
"Now are you sure this is a good idea?" Neo asked Snappy.  
"It's the only way if you're lost, which we are", the alligator said while pointing over towards a small wooden window.  
"What, a tourism office?" Brio growled. "We need a hotel, not one of those!"  
"But that way we can get a guide to the city", nodded Snappy.  
They stopped outside a box labelled "information", and there is a lever that says, "pull".  
"Looks like this is our bundle of tour guides", blinked Brio. "Boron, you know what to do."  
Boron went up to the lever and pulled it down. After rushing back with the others, the doors swung open and a set of dummies popped out in a model of Miami Beach and some chimed music was played. The dummies themselves started to sing along to "It's A Long Way To Tipperary", the backing music being provided by the chimes.

**"Welcome to the city of Miami  
Where your smiles shine there  
Welcome to the city of Miami  
Where there's fun for all to share  
Watch the Dolphins football team  
Lie on the beach catching solar beams  
Or do whatever you like in Miami  
'Cause your smiles shine there!"**

As soon as the dummies stop singing they get brought to the sides of the box out of the way and into the darkness and the chimed music stops. Then a temporary flash blinded everyone and the doors quickly closed. Finally a photograph came out from a slot underneath the doors, showing a picture of the gang and a message underneath it saying "I've Been To Miami".  
Snappy picked up the photograph, and smiled at it. "That was fun! Let's try it again!" He then attempted to go back to the switch.  
Neo resorted to taking a hold of Snappy on the shoulder. "No Snappy – we've got to find somewhere to stay. And besides, when we finally get rid of Tiko, you can visit this place all you want!"  
"But it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!"  
"But you said that you once lived here", Brio said while shaking his head.  
"Oh yeah", the alligator blushed. "I haven't heard a word from the folk that lived with me here for a while yet, but I hope they're still around."  
"Well, in the tabloids we've picked up in the past week, we've heard a lot about your 'friends' you told me about, so they still could be here."  
"If that's the case, there's no time to lose!" Neo smiled before turning to Snappy. "You lead us the way to your childhood home."  
"Aye skipper!"  
As they started dashing down the sidewalk, two black figures could be made out on top of one of the skyscrapers. We finally see them as an old man dressed in young adult clothing and a red bandana, and a green-bodied parrot with a goldenrod mohican hairstyle.  
"Kiwi, are you sure it's them?" the man asked the parrot.  
"Of course they are, Chad my boy! I spotted them when I was flying around the town, and the black-haired one matches the exact specifications."  
"You mean... HE is the Chosen One?"  
"Who do you think he is, Brian May from Queen?" Kiwi responded with sarcasm.  
"I don't think so", he said while not realizing that the parrot gave out a figure of speech. "He's got curly hair, and the one we've got here has spiked hair. Did you find the birthmark?"  
"Oh sure!" the parrot smiled back. "And it's in the same location every time – between the skin and the left eyebrow."  
"We've got to find out just to make sure."  
Kiwi grabbed onto Chad's jacket and they both flew down towards the gang.  
"Howdy... whoa, stop!" he panicked, seeing Kiwi picking up too much speed.  
Eventually, the pair ended up zooming above the group, and crashing right into a wall, before falling into a set of trash cans ahead of them.  
"What in the world..." Neo responded with a blink.  
"That voice sounded so familiar", said Snappy with his jaw dropping.  
Boron came up to a knocked-over trash can and started sniffing it. Then he pulled out Chad and Kiwi from under a pile of steel cans, empty crisp packets and fish bones.  
"Nice to... see you all here", he said while giving off a set of wheezy coughs.  
Neo then went up to him. "You OK sir?"  
Chad then brought himself up onto both feet. "Perfectly fine – I've been through worse situations than this. By the way, are you the Chosen One?"  
"What do you mean am I the Chosen One?" Neo asked with a confused expression. "I'm Neo Cortex, not the-"  
"Just lift up your left eyebrow!" Kiwi shouted loudly.  
He did so, and from underneath they saw a red scar.  
"So?" Neo shrugged. "That's my birthmark."  
"I know, but it's the key for the only way to eliminate the powers of Sergeant Oxtail Soup from the city", smiled Kiwi.  
"Oxtail Soup?" Brio asked. "Who's-"  
"What's worse, he's teamed up with four other master criminals, the leader of these having blue hair, green eyes and a monkey's tail", frowned Chad.  
And it was there that Neo, Snappy and Brio all gasped in union. "TIKO!!!!!!!"  
"Who?" Kiwi questioned.  
"We'll help you out in this mission!" smiled Neo as he went up close towards Chad and Kiwi. "Where are they?"  
"They're at a funfair round this corner!" Chad replied back.  
"You don't say!" Snappy deviously smiled back.  
"By the way, who are the others?" the elder man asked.  
"Oh, they're just some companions of mine - Snappy Gator, Nitrus Brio and Boron, my wolverine", Neo said while pointing at them once he spoke their names.  
"You're back!!!" Chad shouted while looking on at all three of the figures.  
"Huh?!?" Snappy, Brio and Boron exclaimed together.  
"Er, never mind", he replied sheepishly. "By the way I'm Charles Medulla IV, but you can call me Chad, and this is my parrot Kiwi."  
"YOUR parrot?" Kiwi growled towards him. "I belong to someone else!"  
"Oh yeah", sighed Chad. "Back in business then - This is our chance to eliminate Sgt. Soup for good!"  
"And this is our chance to annihilate my siblings", exclaimed Neo. "They've been on the run for years!  
Kiwi then flew on top of Neo's shoulders. "You can explain on the way!"  
So they all started dashing down the sidewalk once more, ready to see their destiny at the funfair. At that time, the beautiful city landscapes started to darken as the sun began to gradually drop over the horizon. Shadows grew larger and the amount of birds hovering around the area decreased steadily, and the amount of cars in the area grew as many were leaving their destinations for home sweet home.  
"So what you're saying is that Sgt. Soup has been up your backside for the past few years?" Snappy asked Chad. "Why?"  
"We were the only ones capable of dealing with crime in this town. The Police are even scared!" Kiwi squawked.  
"Now I know how Batman feels like", frowned Neo.  
"I'm thinkin' the same", sighed Brio. "Seems pretty tough."  
"Yeah, but we could still handle it, what with those toned muscles!" Kiwi smiled. "Wish I could show mine, but parrots can't bend their wings like humans can."  
"I'm sure that your wars had to have a beginning", Neo said with a straight face. "Can you remember what caused it to start?"  
"Gee, my brain cells may not be what they used to be, but…" Chad sighed, and turned towards the others. "Believe it or not, Soup was my earliest creation. I was expecting to follow from my mentor, Dr. Newton Brio."  
"You mean..." Brio's eyes widened, "my father used to live here?"  
"Sure he did", smiled Chad. "He spent his time here studying animal evolution, but he had only one created anthropomorphic creature.  
"And who was that?" Snappy asked quietly.  
Chad seemed to totally ignore him before speaking again. "When he left us 30 years ago I spent time constructing an evolution machine that matched the one in his sketchbook. Five years ago I finally finished and I tested it on the corpse of a human and a live ox. I was expecting a humanoid animal, but he ended up with the tail and a whole lotta steroids!"  
"I never knew my father was a scientist", said Brio with widened eyes. "Oh wait – I spent the early years of my life in New Mexico", he then sighed.  
"What about Ms. Cheese?" questioned Snappy. "Where did she come about?"  
"She was just another street rat looking for an opportunity to get rich quick and earning a position of responsibility", Chad shrugged.  
"In other words, ruling the world", blinked Snappy.  
"Maybe, but we're not sure", said Chad as he lowered his head. "Luckily though I never gave up in my research. Three more animals were tested, each of them being successful. My aim is to keep on going with a dream to have a humanoid army that can help the poor security, placing myself in the history books."  
"So you're saying that you're the one who started this mess?" Neo asked with a high pitch.  
"He always had regret over it, and always will do", Kiwi frowned.  
"Well hopefully that Soup character and that bloomin' gypsy should be no match for us. Snappy then started to laugh. "Make way for Mr. Crocodile Shoes!"  
The gates for the funfair came into focus and they soon stepped into it.  
And the first thing they saw was fire. All the rides were burnt to bits and there was no sign of life anywhere.  
Kiwi then started to panic. "I hope Corona's all right – I haven't done all my music lessons yet!"  
There was a vicious laugh in the distance – a deep male laugh.  
Chad then gave out a light gulp. "I'm afraid about all this..."  
"About what?" Brio blinked back.  
"My daughter", sighed Chad. "I'm worried for her safety..."  
There was a female scream coming from the entrance to what was the dodgems. There, Gadget was already held to the floor thanks to pink ooze, rope tied around her body, an electric current wearing her down and giant mousetraps surrounding her. She was paralyzed from the chest down and was struggling to breathe. Tiko and Sgt. Soup were on the outskirts of the traps with vicious smirks on the faces, with the others behind them.  
"I bet we've outsmarted you this time, Miss Medulla", sneered Soup.  
"You won't get away with this, stinky!" Gadget growled while struggling to break free.  
"Oh, but we can", he said while looking down at the mousetraps. Once these go off, you'll be going down to see the devil and be tortured for eternity!  
He picked up a twig from the ground and was about to use it to set off one of the traps when...  
"HOLD IT!!!!!" cried a rusty male voice.  
"What the...?" Tiko pondered quietly.  
"Oh no – not the elder!" Soup exclaimed while seeing Chad make his way over to the scene.  
"Leave my daughter alone!" he shouted back towards Soup.  
"Or else what, Grandpa?" Mozzarella brawled with a rude tone in her voice.  
"Or else I'll send in some of my friends!"  
Sgt. Soup instantly cracked up, while being cautious not to fall onto the floor as he did so. He then turned towards Tiko, with his teeth showing in his smile.  
"Fine!" he exclaimed. "Show me your 'friends'!"  
And so he did – They came behind him one by one, saving Neo till last. At this sight, Tiko's face started to become pale.  
"OH MY GOSH!" he gasped. "HOW DID HE GET HERE????"  
"Never mind that – how did YOU get HERE?" Neo asked back.  
Tiko had sweat coming down his face, and started shaking.  
"What's the matter with a puny little runt like him?" Soup sighed back at him.  
"Ah, nothing much except that..." Neo shifted his eyes towards Chad, whom smiled back. "I'm the Chosen One."  
Soup then gave out a gasp. "YOU... the ch-ch-ch... CHOSEN ONE?!?!?"  
"Bloomin' eck – I wish I told you guys earlier", Mozzarella frowned.  
"MOVE EVERYONE – WE'VE GOT SOME SERIOUS PLANNING TO DO!" Soup shouted with his voice shaking across the ruins.  
And so they quickly left the area.  
"I guess that steroid dude has been…" Snappy paused, "all souped up!"  
There were signs of laughter around the area.  
Kiwi couldn't help but giggle. "I've never seen him so scared in my life!"  
"Yeah but... why?" Brio asked.  
"Two years ago we learnt that only the Chosen One would have enough power to eliminate the enemy", nodded Chad. "Now that we have him in front of us, victory will be in our grasp, for your crew and for ours."  
As that was going on, Kiwi flew off Chad's shoulder with a potion bottle in her grasp and shared it between Gadget and the others. Then she managed to cut them free with her beak.  
Chad then smiled over at Neo, before pointing on at the others from behind him. "I'd like you to meet some comrades of mine – Travis Tortoiseshell, Misty Terrapin, Corona Grizzly and my daughter Gadget."  
Gadget finally stood upright, facing Neo, both gazing into each other's eyes. For almost half a minute they didn't lose eye contact, but soon enough they smiled at each other.  
"I'd like to thank you for saving my life", she smiled.  
Neo didn't respond to her comment, but it wasn't long until they exchanged their hands into a handshake. But they were soon interrupted by the sound of a car horn. Both of them turned into the direction of the beeping noise quickly and rushed back to the entrance, where the whole group were in Neo's jeep, with Misty in the driver's seat!  
"Hey come on slowpokes – get in the car!" Misty shouted towards them.  
"'Scuse me turtle, but this is MY jeep, not yours!" Neo growled back.  
"Well who gives the monkey's nuts about that?"  
Corona then came as close to harshly tugging onto one of Misty's pigtails. "Stop it! Can't you do something nice today for once?"  
The turtle then sighed. "I guess you're right..." She was left to mumble under her breath.  
Misty quickly jumped into the back seat and Neo and Gadget eventually hopped in.  
"Oh boy – the Chosen One has arrived!" Travis shouted from his seat.  
"Yes, but we still need to play our full potential in case something terrible happens", nodded Chad.  
"Yeah – we're not takin' any chances!" Snappy winked back.  
Neo then chuckled before stepping on the gas pedal. "Brotherly revenge, here we come!"  
Within a few seconds the jeep was out of sight and was heading towards the Southern direction. Who knows what dangers could be on the horizon...  
"YOU'RE GOING THE WRONG WAY, FOR GOODNESS SAKE!" shouted Misty's voice from the horizon.

-end of part 1-


	2. An Overdose of Politics

What stood near the ruins of the fairground was what looked like a normal block of flats, but how did it look normal with a power surge running from a basement window?  
Anyhow, that power surge was running all over the lab and in the darkest corner a strange being stood there, shrouded by darkness. He was about to come into the light, with his blue eyes glowing, towards a dog-like creature at the other side of the room, also shrouded in darkness. He got out his hands and caused a tight grip with four fingers and two thumbs shared between them, and was about to grab it... but that was until a door was slammed open. This caused the creature to dash back into the corner.  
"Hey Bubble! We've got company!" shouted a voice from above.  
"Drat!" the creature cursed with a deep voice and a London accent. "I was so close too!"  
He finally emerged from the darkness, showing himself as an anthropomorphic starfish wearing a black hat and same-colored dark clothing, with brown hair hanging down near his pink skin. Looking down at the dog-like creature, he showed regret in his eyes.  
"Don't tell him, Goliath. Or I'll be mincemeat again, and so will you next time they leave us."  
And with that, Bubble headed up a dusty set of stairs and through a brightly lit hall, where Chad and the others stood near him.  
"Oh hey there, Chad!" greeted the starfish. "How's it going?"  
"Absolutely brilliant - we have found success!" he responded back.  
"As in...?" Bubble questioned.  
"We have brought you a gang of four lead by Neo Cortex, AKA the Chosen One."  
The starfish then gasped. "HE'S ARRIVED!!!" he smiled, before focusing his attention towards Neo and his accomplices. "Oh... sorry if I didn't get to introduce myself to you four. I'm Bubble Starfish, Chad's apprentice and Misty's best friend."  
"Oh, I see – you try to help him achieve his anthro-creation goal!" Neo winked back.  
Chad then started to giggle to himself. "Where would I be without him?"  
The basement door swung open and out came the dog creature, showing himself... as a blue wolverine! He started barking quickly at the others.  
Gadget then gasped. "Have you been tested by Bubble again?"  
Bubble then sighed. "I'm sorry. I wanted to help you get an army of anthros..."  
"Yes, but not by placing my wolverine on the evolution machine!" he growled at the starfish.  
While they quarreled, Brio brought his attention to the wolverine itself – it had blue fur, leather clothing and bushy orange hair with a small moustache under his nose. "Ah, he looks just like Boron, but the fur coat is different. What's he called?"  
"He goes by the name of Sir Goliath!" Chad shouted back.  
All of a sudden, Boron's eyes lit up. He then screamed, before jumping straight on towards Goliath's back. As they played about, Goliath's pendant dropped off, and Neo picked it up. After looking inside he saw the blue wolverine's family... and a familiar looking cub...  
He then gave off a smile. "I think I know why he's so excited."  
"What?" Travis asked back with a curious expression.  
"It seems like both of them... are father and son!" Neo smiled sweetly.  
That gave enough time for everyone to respond back with "awww"s and "aah"s. However, Snappy just remained silent and looked around the apartment room.  
"This place seems to get weirder by the minute", he growled. "Oh wait - now can you tell me who was Newton's creation?" he turned his attention to Chad.  
Chad couldn't help but chuckle. "YOU were his tested animal in his research for animal evolution. You've been that way since the day you were born!"  
The alligator then gasped. "WHOA!"  
"And after that", Chad continued, "his old machine was blown up by a power surge, after just a few days of life. He was still happy because he was a pro at this, and so he had to leave for a bigger challenge. Where is he now?"  
"He's dead", frowned Brio.  
Chad paused for several seconds of silence. "I never knew", he said while looking down. But it wasn't long until he looked back up. "However this mission will be set in memory of him! Soup, you're mine!"  
But before he can continue any further, the sound of a TV's news jingle was running in the room next to them.  
"We interrupt this programme to give you the following newsflash."  
With that, everyone peeked into the room and saw what was going on.  
"A few minutes ago a criminal group of six have broken into the Town Hall and are holding the mayor hostage."  
Everyone else soon gasped.  
"We are unsure about the criminals", the news reporter continued, "but through the security cameras inside the mayor's office we can see them clearly."  
The TV showed the situation... and the crooks were instantly recognizable!  
Neo then gave off an instant gasp. "TIKO!!!"  
"And Sergeant Soup!!!" Gadget exclaimed next to him.  
"And all the others that we don't need to go through", Snappy said with sarcasm.  
"If you can recognise the criminals, please contact the Police on the following number on the screen", the reporter said while displaying a local telephone number on the bottom of the screen. "They will do the job, so we advise you to stay indoors until it's all over. We will now return to the advertised programme."  
Having heard about that, Chad lead the group outside, towards the colder open air. Once there, they all closed the door.  
"Did you hear that?" he asked the others. "The next battle has only just begun! If they conquer the Mayor's office, who knows what they'd do next!"  
"Ey, you're not gonna take him out, aren't you?" Bubble asked him.  
"Chad told us that you guys are stronger than the Police force, so we don't have a choice!" Neo shrugged with a straight expression.  
"Awww... do we HAVE to?" Travis responded with wide puppy-like eyes.  
Snappy then gave out an angry sigh. "Would you rather have your lives wrecked by this monster or live a happy life?"  
"Er…" Travis then sighed. "OK, let's deal with him before anything bad happens."  
"That's the spirit, Travis my boy!" Corona smiled with a devious expression. "We can't wreck your life any further than this!"  
So they quickly headed out towards the Mayor's office. Who knows what could happen next – it could be really good or really bad for them. But who knows – the fate of the town is in their hands, and in a situation like this, anything can happen!

* * *

Inside the office, all hell seemed to have broken lose – the city's Mayor was tied up in the corner, and struggling to break free, but the only areas of security that he can't escape... are the clutches of Tiko's crew.  
"Ey, please let me out, you ignorant jerks!!!!" he exclaimed.  
Tiko then brought his attention to his partners. "Shall we?"  
"No way José!" Lio said while sticking his tongue out.  
"His name's not even José, bro", said Hallie, shaking her head.  
"We need to do a bit more reasoning with him", blinked Mozzarella.  
"Don't let him escape – chances are that he'd send that brotherly Chosen One on us!" Deksta replied with a giggle.  
"Well no matter what we've got enough power combined to eliminate this so-called Chosen One", sneered Soup.  
"OK", Tiko smiled back.  
"No please – you don't understand!" the Mayor exclaimed with panic. "I'll do anything for you guys if you let me go!"  
"Anything?" Tiko smiled.  
"Anything", the Mayor nodded shamefully.  
"Anything?" Tiko and the others asked in unison, in a set of gradual tones.  
"Absolutely anything!" the Mayor cried out with fear.  
Tiko then gave out a vicious smirk. "I have something in mind. I want you to turn down your position of Mayor of Miami!"  
"No... please... anything but that!" the Mayor continued to panic.  
"And send it to us!" Tiko finished off his sentence.

* * *

"Thar she blows!" Gadget exclaimed, while looking on at the city hall from her view on the sidewalk on the opposite side of the road. "Now before we get inside, do any of you have any questions to ask?"  
"I do", said Neo as he raised his hand in the air. "What's so different about being the Chosen One?"  
"Hoo boy... you don't wanna know", Misty said, scowling into his face.  
"Yeah he does!" Bubble shouted while pulling her back a few paces. "We heard that the Chosen One can do totally different things to what normal people could do."  
"Oh, get a grip", growled Snappy. "He can't fly, breathe fire or attract a dragonfly to go with him everywhere."  
"Snappy, I know that the Chosen One possesses hidden power", Gadget said with an annoyed tone, "but that doesn't necessarily mean Dragon Power, OK?"  
"OK", the alligator shrugged.  
"Well I heard that the Chosen One is born with a high health rating", blinked Kiwi, "so this means that he can't get defeated."  
It was there that Misty thought back towards her time in the Mystic tent at the fun fair. "But the gypsy told me about-"  
"Don't take the mick out of him – I'm thinking that you're jealous", sighed Brio.  
"No I'm not!"  
"Hey, let's just wrap this up with one simple sentence – the Chosen One is stronger than many normal people", nodded Bubble.  
"But I want more of an explanation", frowned Snappy.  
"Any more questions, boys and girls?" Gadget asked.  
There was silence.  
"Good. This is gonna be too easy", she winked.  
So they quickly stepped through the doors of the city hall and dashed down the corridors towards the mayor's office...  
During the walk, Misty gave off an angry sigh. "YOU'VE GONE THE WRONG WAY AGAIN!!!"  
"Misty, you told us to go right", Neo responded back with a confused glance.  
"Ignore her", nodded Chad. "For a girl her age she doesn't know her left from her right. Remember – do the opposite direction to what she says. She's always been crabby at Geography, explaining this lack of direction."  
Finally they reached the doors and glanced at them. There was silence for a while and then Snappy kicked the door down, without suffering pain. Sooner enough they embraced themselves and stepped inside, with Travis hiding behind Chad's back. Time was slowly slipping away, and bearing that in mind, who knows what could occur inside the most important area of the whole city.  
A whole set of feet stepped into the office and after a few steps they came to a halt.  
And all that they saw... was just a normal, quiet mayor's desk. There was nothing suspicious anywhere.  
"I have a bad feeling that Mozzarella was the TV reporter back there", blinked Neo.  
"What are you talking about?" Travis asked him.  
"Look, I think we've been fooled."  
Misty gave off a vicious sigh. "Oh for God's sake, I still think that them jerks are hanging around in here! Now shut yer pie hole and listen."  
There was silence, and the only sound that could be heard was the sound of rustling behind the mayor's desk.  
"Heehee!!!" Snappy said while chuckling to himself. "They're doin' it in the back!!!!!"  
"Snappy!" Neo exclaimed while slapping him across the face.  
"Hoo boy... where did you get him?" Bubble asked.  
Gadget shrugged. "Don't explain now – I think I've found an important piece of the puzzle."  
She climbed onto the desk and peeked around the back, trying her best to avoid her long tree brown hair getting down there. She finally smiled.  
"And an important piece it was too – I've found the Mayor!"  
Chad then gasped. "You have?!?!?"  
"Lemme take a look!" shouted Kiwi as she flew over to the desk.  
Then, Corona came round the other side of the desk and grabbed Kiwi's beak tightly.  
"OW!" the bird screamed.  
"Sorry, but you're essential for help here", said the bear. "Now open wide and say 'ah'."  
The parrot opened her beak as wide as she could go. "Aaaaaaah..."  
Quickly she placed one of the ropes tied around the Mayor in between her upper beak and lower beak, and when they closed sooner enough it snapped the string! Within no time at all, the mayor was able to wiggle free within a few seconds.  
"Oh, thanks for rescuing me!" the Mayor said in a more feminine voice, keeping his back onto the group. "Hmmm... how can I be able to thank you guys? Maybe by making all your dreams come true?"  
"My dream is to drive around the world in a Ferrari and wear only Calvin Klein underpants!" Snappy exclaimed, with everyone else rolling eyes near him.  
"Maybe I should try and give you something that you want for a long time", the Mayor said in a deeper tone.  
"YEAH! YEAH!" Boron yapped from his position.  
The Mayor then snickered viciously. "How about a NASTY AND DIRTY FIGHT!!!"  
The Mayor removed his wig and tall hat, and showed himself – herself rather – as Hallie!  
"SUCKER!" she sneered.  
"OH NO!" the others looked on with widened eyes.  
Bubble then sneered at her angrily, bringing her close towards one of the walls. "Tell us where the real Mayor is, or else!"  
"Bad guys never reveal their plots to the good guys, so why bother?" Hallie sighed.  
Bubble resorted to ramming his knee into her stomach. "Show – us – the – mayor!!!"  
Hallie's eyes soon started to glow as bright as burning bluebells and with that she drew out her whip and leapt into the air, and caused a slash across the whole room, regardless of who she hits. When her attacks finished she looked around the room... and saw that Brio and Corona are the only ones standing!  
"I was afraid that something bad like this could happen", frowned Corona.  
"Well well well, if it isn't the bear and the white boy", sneered Hallie.  
"Who are you calling white boy?" growled Brio.  
"That's all I CAN call you, ever since I never saw you travel with Neo before", she said with a straight face.  
Corona resorted with a growl. "Stay away from us – we're tougher than you think!"  
Hallie started to giggle in her direction. "Show me what you've got!"  
Unexpectedly, from right behind Corona, Brio's eyes started glowing a bright red, and the skin colour gradually changed. There was no notice of this, as the girls made their way into the middle of the office for a catfight, although they're not cats. Brio tried to drag everyone else out of the room while suffering the effects of changing shape, skin colour and eye colour, not to mention species. He then gave out a light squeal that was a crossover of his own and a wolf's.  
"Look – I may be a girl, but bears are more ferocious than you think, no matter what sex they are", smiled Corona.  
"Who cares about that?" Hallie screamed back. "All that you've got on you is just a puny little guitar, and what can you do with that? Absolutely nothing!"  
Corona then brought out a twelve-string guitar strapped behind her back. "We'll see about that!"  
"Prove it!"  
With Hallie's evil smirk spread across her face, Corona opened up her musical instrument and... pulled out a flamethrower! She took aim, and instantly fired it onto her opponent! She tried to block it... but...  
Hallie started to scream and run as her clothes caught fire. "FIRE! FIRE! FIIIIIIIIIRE!!!"  
But she stopped running around for a while and then a thought came into her head – a random fireman speaking in front of her.  
"Stop, drop and roll."  
The thoughts soon faded back into reality. So quickly she dived down and started rolling on her back across the room, and a few seconds later... the fire was out. She looked fried and burnt to a crisp. Finally, Corona stepped slowly towards her, with her flamethrower pointed at her.  
"Any last words?"  
"My tea's gone cold, I wondered why…" Hallie randomly sang.  
Corona then rolled her eyes. "That sadistic trick is not gonna work."  
With that she pulled the trigger of her flamethrower... and nothing came out!  
"WANKER!!" Hallie exclaimed with a cheeky expression.  
Despite looking sizzled round the edges, Hallie made a jump back up onto her feet and landed perfectly. She got out her whip, and then started slashing it towards Corona, who was now on the run so badly. The chase occurred for a while, yet there seemed like there was no chance of escaping. Finally she was cornered in the far back of the room, which was far away from the door and the window, and it seemed like she was done for. A final whip slash was about to come down when... she heard a snap.  
"Grrr... MISSED!!" she screamed.  
As she reclaimed her, she saw… that she didn't miss her shot – instead, the end of her whip had been chopped off!  
"Hoo boy", she exclaimed with fear.  
A black shadow lurked right behind her as her eyes were focused on the broken whip. It came closer and closer... and closer! It showed claws like a werewolf, and a face that could strike fear into the hearts of all men… and women. The appearance caused Corona to scream.  
This caused Hallie to turn around, and then scream right in front of him, and was chased across the area. Gradually she became much slower as her strength gradually slipped away as she ran, giving time for Corona to check everyone else signs for life. Meanwhile, the chase continued near the window, and there was no way of escaping. Back with Corona, most of her companions were beginning to regain consciousness already! Whilst she ran over to Kiwi to check on her... she came to a stop due to a shout.  
"HEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLP!!" exclaimed Hallie's voice.  
Corona turned towards a window, where she saw a hole broken through from it. "What the...!"  
She quickly dashed across to the now broken window and looked down at the two. In fact, it was just a 1-storey drop! Both of them had cuts of glass in their bodies, with the beast being the most effected. Gradually, Hallie regained consciousness.  
"Ow..." Hallie moaned with pain.  
"Now before you DARE do that again, don't bother", the bear growled before jumping down to her level.  
"No, please... you don't understand!" Hallie screamed back.  
But before she could do anything else, Corona quickly gave her a strong kick so strong it booted her out of the city, screaming her head off.  
"Guess we won't be seeing her for a long time", the bear shrugged.  
Behind her a yellow glow occurred. This finally caught her eye and she turned around, looking at the beast changing shape. Within a few seconds she saw... that it was Brio who was the beast!  
"I don't believe it..." Corona whispered.  
"You should do", said Neo's voice from nearby. "He told us he's been like that all his life."  
The sound of his voice caused Corona to turn towards the window, to see everyone else fully revived.  
"Where did Hallie go?" Snappy asked.  
"Oh, I just... kicked her out of town... er..." Corona paused. "Am I in trouble?"  
"I don't think so", nodded Neo. "Although she didn't end up behind bars-"  
"And we don't mean serving cocktails!" Snappy interrupted with a laugh.  
"I think you showed a pretty good fight with her", Neo finished off his sentence.  
"Thanks!" smiled the bear. "But... wait a minute – weren't you knocked out?"  
"Close, but not close enough", Neo replied back.  
Corona's eyes then lit up. "Ah, I see where you're coming from!" She winked before picking up Brio from off the tarmac. "Come on - we have to progress back quickly. Who knows what could happen to him."  
"Good idea", frowned Gadget. "We don't want to lose someone at this stage, don't we?"  
And with that they quickly dashed back down the streets towards the parking lot, with the real mayor starring at the window with a proud smile on his face. But as that happened... a snowflake touched the ground unexpectedly. For the alliance of Neo and Gadget, it's going to be a cold summer with what they're doing. Fortunately it's six-become-five and they're now one step closer to weakening the forces of their archenemies.

-end of part 2-


	3. Cold Hearts and Cold Weather

"Brio!" a wheezy voice spoke in darkness. "Brio, are you OK?"  
The darkness opened up, leaving Brio's eyes to soon focus in front of him. Right there stood Neo, who showed a confident expression upon him. He looked around and saw himself in a comfortable bed, with an icepack on his head, a thermometer in his mouth and a Womble teddy next to him.  
"Ow... what... happened?" he asked with pain in his voice.  
"Let's just say that you've returned into your beast form again."  
"My beast form?" A sudden painful urge went through his forehead, causing him to hold onto it. "OW!!!!!!!"  
"Don't panic - it's not all that bad. With Corona by your side, you've managed to clear her out of the city."  
"Really?"  
Neo gave out a confident nod. "Really really! Now that's one down and five to go."  
"That's good!"  
"But you HAVE to stay behind if another one gets located around here tonight. You're badly injured."  
"That's bad."  
"So this means that you'll gain your strength back by the morning, which isn't too far from here." Neo turned to his right, bringing his attention to a grandfather clock nearby. "It's now getting towards half past ten at night."  
"That's good... or is that bad?"  
"Who bothers about which?" Neo then gave out a sweet smile. "The main thing is that you're alive and well, and will be fully recovered by sunrise tomorrow."  
"Thanks. Guess I'll leave you to it then."  
"No problem", Neo winked before leaving the room with a few casual strides.

* * *

Not too far from the bedroom was a set of hallways leading into a large playing room. In that room, the others were around a small coffee table playing a game of "Scrabble". On the board were words that were no more than four letters long.  
"OK then - my turn!" Gadget smiled, before picking up five tiles from her hand and layering down the word 'Homer'.  
"D'OH!" Bubble sighed angrily. "It's not even a real word!"  
"Very funny", she sighed. "Now look - a homer is another term for a home run in baseball, so that's a high score I've got there!"  
But as soon as she finished speaking, the window at one side of the room suddenly swung open... and a terrifying mix of wind and snow came in, blowing the game and contents upside down.  
"So much for our game", Gadget growled as she went up towards the window.  
With all her might she tried her best to close the window and lock it. Within a few seconds she finally did so. After that she turned to face the crew again... and she saw them all covered in snow from head to toe!  
She then gasped with fright. "What's with all this?"  
Before they could respond, Neo made his way into the room. "Guys, I have some news about..." He gasped at the sight of the snow-covered team. "Wait a minute... snow... in July?"  
"That's exactly what I was thinking", she said while taking a glance into his eyes. "Hopefully you'll be the flamethrower for the job", she responded with a sweet smile.  
Neo gave out a light chuckle. "Well we'll have to see what's causing it first!"  
"I think I've an idea", said Kiwi as she popped her head from out of the snow. "While we were going home I spotted a very peculiar machine firing ice-white beams inside the Joe Robbie Stadium, the home of the Miami Dolphins football team. It also felt pretty cold for a summer night over here - much colder than I expected. Maybe that thing may have caused it."  
"We'll take a look inside", Neo smiled with determination.  
Corona soon followed by popping her head out. "Count on me - I re-filled my flamethrower and I'm ready to take this snow problem outta here!"  
Misty soon followed on, growling at Neo's direction. "Just make sure you go the right way this time!"  
As Chad freed himself, with Boron and Goliath following on from him growling, he sighed towards the turtle. "He always does! You still don't have your sense of direction."  
"Heehee", Snappy chuckled as he catapulted himself out from the snow. "Make way for the Snap!"  
"Whatever he wants, he will get it!" Travis smiled as he emerged from the slush.  
"Yeah - and they'd best watch out for the Technical Starfish!" Bubble smirked as he stood upright from his position.  
"So you ALL want a piece of it do you?" Neo smiled with enthusiasm. "Let's hope we get there fast before we're back in the Ice Age!"  
"Well put!" giggled Gadget.  
Within seconds they all dashed out from the corridors towards the front doors of the block. After that their attempt to beat the cold will somehow begin.  
"Good luck guys", whispered Brio from his secluded room.  
He then leant his head onto the pillow and went to a peaceful sleep very quickly. But as for the ventures ahead, there will be no rest for Tiko and the others!

* * *

The snow current drifted further and further across the street, blowing harder as time progressed. Deep footprints could be seen inside it, and up along the trail a large struggle could be seen.  
"Maybe them guys were wrong", Neo started to pant painfully as he stepped further into the snow. "I think I'm the FROZEN One!" he exclaimed before collapsing.  
Within no time, both wolverines popped out of the snow like moles in the countryside and helped him up.  
"Thanks", Neo smiled before looking down. "Unfortunately it's going to be a bit tougher from now on." He brought his attention to both wolverines, whom both had widened eyes. "If we don't move any further then this means that the snow will grow deeper until we're buried inside." Both wolverines yelped with fear at his comment. "We need to be quick to get inside! By the way, how are the others doing?"  
Boron pointed back along the footprint trail and saw the others, whom have managed to catch up. Corona however had no problem, what with her flamethrower clearing a small path for her and the others. Kiwi tackled against the wind but she managed to fly faster than the current. Within no time they managed to catch up at the gates to the stadium. In an instant, Chad and Bubble started fiddling about with the padlock.  
"I'm worried about getting frozen to death", cried Travis.  
"Don't panic about the heat now", Corona smiled. "I'll keep you all warm on the way."  
"Yeah, but just make sure that your so-called Chosen One don't get it", Misty sneered.  
"Why not?" Corona blinked. "We can't win the wars without him!"  
"Because he's just a downright show-off!"  
"And what have I done to make you jealous?" Neo asked Misty.  
"You'll be all over the front page when we're through with Sgt. Soup and co. and we won't get any sign of credit whatsoever!"  
"Course we will!" Gadget smiled at her. "Now stop talking utter nonsense and let's get inside."  
But it wasn't long until the padlock broke open. Both Chad and Bubble stepped away from it, showing relieved expressions upon them.  
"Good timing! We got it open!" Bubble grinned.  
"Great!" Gadget screamed in return, giving him a hug upon his back.  
Corona then opened up the end of her guitar, and lit the flamethrower end as gentle as a flashlight. "OK, let's check it out, and let's all stick together. We don't want to lose anybody."  
So they went inside and started walking around the area in search of anything suspicious. After a while...  
"I feel like there's nothing much in here at all", Snappy sighed before turning to Kiwi. "Are you sure we're in the right stadium?"  
"Of course we are - look! The club's logo is quite literally all over the place!"  
Snappy turned to the right and then to the left, and saw that Kiwi's statement was right. He then gave out an angry sigh. "I just know that it'll be better if we all split up. That way we cover more ground."  
"It's not going to work", Neo said while shaking his head. "If we lose anyone at this stage then this means that they're gone for good..."  
"Oh wait", Gadget gasped before coming into a standstill. "Lemme check if everyone's here..." She started counting everyone over and over again, with her face becoming more panicked than ever. "Nine? Two of us are missing..." She gasped. "Where's Travis and Bubble?"  
"I thought I held their hands for safety", said Chad with a surprised expression. He looked down to his hands, and noticed that he was holding onto two other objects. "Cold hot dogs?"  
"CHAD!!" the whole group exclaimed at him.  
Misty quickly punched him in the face, sending him into a wall and causing him to see stars as soon as he rebounded.  
"What have you done to them, you old-aged maggot?" she furiously asked him.  
"Hey! Don't talk to him like that!" Gadget sighed in return.  
"Sorry", the turtle said with sarcasm.  
"Wonder what happened to them", Gadget then started to ponder.

* * *

"Where are we?" asked Travis as he looked around the darker reaches of the stadium, with his feet giving off loud footsteps upon the floor.  
"I'm not sure but I don't wanna find out", frowned Bubble.  
"Have you got a flashlight?"  
"Luckily I do."  
He turned on the flashlight and the room revealed itself as a power warehouse, with a gas tank right in the middle, and several computers all around it.  
"I don't like the sound of that", Travis said with fear in his eyes.  
"I know, but there's no way out", sighed Bubble. "We can't escape this from the way we came in."  
"As a matter of fact, you can't escape anywhere!" said a voice from nearby.  
From the ceiling, a black figure came down quickly and stood with legs far apart. Travis cowered behind Bubble, who managed to stand his guard.

* * *

Back with the others, they were seen making a furious run through the corridors... back the way they came?  
"Are you sure that Bubble and Travis were last seen down here?" Kiwi asked the others. "I can't see a secret switch anywhere."  
"Or anything suspicious for that matter", sighed Snappy.  
"Well let's just think about it this way", Gadget said while turning towards Kiwi. "Like you said before, the whole place is littered with Dolphins merchandise. There's gotta be something that stands out above the rest..."  
"But we couldn't see anything suspicious at all since we first stepped into this place", shrugged Misty.  
"That's because it's too dark, dufus", the bear growled as she caused the light on her end of her flamethrower to shine brighter. "If we get more light then it'll stand out a lot more..."  
"Guys!" said Neo's voice from nearby. "Come over here!"  
The others quickly dashed over to Neo, who was standing in front of a picture of a peculiar-looking trophy.  
"If you're looking for something that stands out, then try this one for size."  
"Oh puh-lease, it's just a picture of a sporting trophy", Misty sighed. "There's nothing wrong about that, is there?"  
"Think before you speak, woman", Corona growled before pulling onto her pigtails harshly.  
Chad then went up towards the trophy portrait himself. "If I'm not mistaken this trophy has no link to football whatsoever."  
"As if...?" Misty asked with curiosity.  
"This is a picture of the original soccer World Cup prize - the Jules Rimet trophy", Chad smiled as he lifted the picture up. "And I bet that they may have ended up down here somewhere!"  
A button could be seen on the wall, and he immediately pressed it down. The wall turned around and shows a dark passageway.  
"Way to go Neo dude!" Snappy exclaimed with a smile.  
"Yeah - where could we be without you?" Gadget sweetly grinned back.  
"See?" Misty sulked. "Just like I said he'd get ALL the glory and..."  
Kiwi soon fought back by pecking her on her head. "Stop whining and let's go!"  
They started dashing down, but on the first second... Gadget instantly slipped, causing her to scream. And then, she started plummeting down a deep hole, lightened by neon lights.  
"GADGET!!!" Chad gasped towards her.  
"Don't panic - we'll get her at the bottom of the pit, we'll see", Neo smiled with confidence. "Start climbing!"  
"But I'm a parrot, so I can do it the OTHER way round", she smiled while she outstretched her wings, unaware of the others leering towards her.

* * *

At the bottom of the pit, Gadget made a bumpy landing on a cold, hard surface, landing on her belly. Eventually she looked up... and was blinded by several lights all at once. Eventually they started to fade out... and she saw herself in a recognizable power chamber! At this stage blobs of pink ooze were blowing up quite a few computers and three figures could be seen at war. She got out her binoculars and looked closely in from her position.  
She instantly gasped. "I don't believe it!" She placed the binoculars down and shouted up the hole above her. "GUYS!!! I'VE FOUND THEM!!"  
There was no response.  
"Maybe they've gone another way round" she sighed.  
She looked on at the battle and saw how things were going. But a white flash soon interrupted it.  
"TRAVIS!!" exclaimed Bubble's voice.  
Travis was now stuck in the wrecks of another computer and the current was shocking him. The fried smell and the fear in his throat made things worse.  
"I know you're hurt - just hang on!" Bubble panicked. "Let me deal with this one first!"  
"Please... OW!!" the current continued to shock his body. "Go on without me", he said before squealing continuously.  
Gadget then showed worry in her eyes and was trembling all the same. It was only a few years ago since she rescued the boy cat from a worse experience - a car crash in the desert regions of the state. Now it looked like she was ready to do it all over again. She started walking slowly to the scene of the crime, armed with a pistol in each hand, aiming them towards the black figure.

* * *

Further up the tunnel, the others were making steady progress climbing down safely, unaware of the condition of the battle down below. Regardless of that, confidence was purely shown across everyone's faces.  
"I can see a shiny metallic floor from here", Neo said with a smile. "We're almost there!"  
"Uno momento por favor", Kiwi started speaking in a Mexican accent. "What if Gadget down there has broken a few bones? How are we gonna take her up?"  
"Hey birdie - there could be another way out, you know", Snappy winked at her.  
"Good point, Gator!" Corona exclaimed towards him.  
"That's my surname, don't wear it out."  
But from directly underneath them, a blob of ooze struck the side of the landing.  
Neo instantly gasped at it. "Oh no..."  
"Now what?" Misty asked while leering towards his eyes.  
"I hate to tell you this, but... LIO'S DOWN THERE!! Pinkeye Fiend at 5 o' clock!!!"  
"Let me take him on!" Kiwi exclaimed before flying down.  
"No, wait! Corona panicked in her direction.  
It was too late. Kiwi already flew inside and saw the bad events happening down there. Travis was trapped in a computer wreckage, Bubble was trying to help him out and Gadget was already cornered by Lio, who's now in the light. He got another blob of ooze in possession and was about to fire it directly at her...  
"Say your prayers, missy!" Lio smirked at her direction.  
But just before he was about to toss it... a sharp pecking pain started to take a hold on him, going down from his head, all the way down his spine.  
"OW!!! MY BUTT!!!" he exclaimed with pain.  
The ooze went flying up and tossing over like a pancake, and eventually it got stuck on the ceiling. He turned around furiously and saw Kiwi looking sweet and innocent.  
"YOU!!!" Lio shouted towards her.  
"Uh-oh..."  
He then took a hold of her around her neck. "What on Earth do you think that was for?"  
As this was going on, this gave Gadget some time to escape.  
"Er... it was an accident!" she smiled at his direction.  
"Accident? I'll show you accident!"  
He drew the arm back and was about to toss it right into the boiler... but coming from behind his back, a yellow beam went crawling up his back and sooner enough he started squealing his head off and let go of Kiwi, who managed to dodge the attack. His X-Ray could be seen through it and sparks could be seen flying all over the place. And his baseball cap fell off, giving room for his hair to stand on end, and finally an explosion occurred at the centre of the room!  
At the same time there were some footsteps from the pit of the Pit, and Kiwi soon flew towards them.  
"Head into your battle stations, people!" Chad shouted with determination.  
"I don't think we should bother", said Neo as he shook his head.  
"But..."  
"And besides, we're not supposed to be here", frowned Kiwi.  
The smoke of the explosion fogged up the entire room, with all the machines in the room destroyed. Meanwhile, from the smoke, a small figure came in, carrying two others.  
"I have a bad feeling about this", Snappy said in his best Obi-Wan voice.  
As soon as the figure came near them, he dropped his luggage on the ground, both of them struggling to get up.  
"Bubble!" Chad gasped towards the starfish.  
"Gadget!!!" Neo exclaimed to her.  
Their bodies seemed to be that drained of energy they couldn't even stand up. Finally, they were both pulled up.  
"Are you guys OK?" Chad asked them both.  
"I... I..." she said with a weak tone. "I don't know..."  
"That... figure", Bubble responded back while shaking in his legs.  
Neo then brought his arms around the back of Gadget's torso, leaving her to lean on his shoulder. "Don't panic. We'll be out of here in no time. Oh... by the way, who saved you guys?"  
"I did", said a young voice.  
The figure came out of the fog... showing himself as Travis!  
Corona gave out a gasp. "How did you do that?"  
"I think..." He spoke with a shaky expression, "While I was in the computer I felt a strange feeling..." As he spoke, a yellow current surrounded him quickly. "Oh no…!"  
"HIT THE DECK!!!!!" Snappy exclaimed.  
They all ducked, as Travis sent out an uncontrolled... electric attack right above their heads! As soon as it stopped, the others stood up again.  
"That's my problem", he frowned. "I feel that I've got something new inside my body..."  
Corona then went up to him. "Don't panic about failing to control it. It's just like when you're in nappies, and you can't control your digestive system properly. Give it time. You'll get used to it."  
"Still, I'm pretty lucky I had that really, or else we would all be mincemeat!" Travis smiled with a more joyful expression.  
"There you go my sweet!" she smiled while cuddling him.  
"Now be careful - I might shock someone in my sleep tonight", Travis said with panic upon his face.  
"Course we will. That's my boy!"  
"One more question - what are we gonna do with Gadget and Bubble?" Snappy asked the others.  
"They should be healed by the morning", Chad nodded. "Luckily enough, Soup and the others don't know where we all live! This means we can rest easy tonight!"  
"Awww... do we have to?" Travis frowned, while giving off an uncontrolled yawn. "I'm not tired..."  
"Come along", Corona smiled towards him.  
She got out her flamethrower and aimed it towards the side of the wall, where from that viewpoint the snow was melting away. The plan of turning Miami into a snow park had then been backfired. Today they've gained a quick start in taking care of the evil in the area, but tomorrow they need to hurry up and deal with the others!

-end of part 3-


	4. Release of the Iron Maiden

A beautiful sunrise started to show upon Miami. As the sun starts rising over the horizon, a sweet guitar sound could be heard among these rooftops. When everything was once shadow, things could now be picked up in the light.  
The light shone down on the minstrel, showing herself as Corona. The sweet melodies plucked up on her strings, reflecting upon the peaceful red skies around her. But… that was until a thud was heard from beneath her.  
"What on Earth..."  
She placed her guitar back in its place and started dashing down the steps, towards her apartment. Within that, she managed to trip up and as she landed... she was looking straight up at Bubble.  
"Whoa there, slow down", chuckled the starfish. "Don't get too excited, furry!"  
"I just want to know what's going on!" asked Corona as she stood up. "The thud sounded like it's something bad."  
"It IS, you dimwit! Gadget fainted as soon as she entered her bedroom to check if Neo was up yet."  
"Why?" she asked.  
"We haven't seen him all morning! I've been right after his hiney, and you know what?"  
"What?"  
"He's... missing", he sighed when bringing his head down.  
The bear then gasped. "OH NO!"  
"Don't panic – they call me the Big Brother of the house, meaning that I have been watching everyone", smiled Bubble as he pulled out a cassette tape from his pockets.  
"Hey, you seem pretty protective. Have you seen it yet?"  
The starfish gave out a laugh. "I always check them before you wake up!"  
Corona had a sweat drop coming down her face, and was blushing anime-style.  
"The ultimate scene of this crime shows how he escaped... or was rather... KIDNAPPED!" Bubble shouted as he pulled out a photograph, instantly placing one of his fingers onto a feminine figure outside an open window. "This girl here carried him out of the room, using psychic power! Any ideas on this one?"  
"What's the matter with you? It seems like you can't recognise her", sighed Corona as she leered on at him.  
"OK. Tell me who it is."  
"Right – it looks like Ms. Cheese!"  
"What?"  
He then came to a sudden stop, thinking hard to the events that occurred last night. And then, Chad's quote came back into his mind.  
"_Soup and the others don't know where we all live!"_  
The thought soon managed to vanish from his mind, leaving him with nothing to do than to look at Corona with a pair of blank eyes.  
"ACK!" he screamed. "I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN!!!"  
"Don't panic - we'll gather everyone around and tell them everything.."

* * *

It wasn't long until everyone gathered around the breakfast table in the kitchen and heard Bubble and Corona tell the events towards their comrades.  
"...and now all we gotta do is track her down and re-claim him!" Bubble exclaimed with determination.  
"You must be joking me!" Snappy said with widened eyes.  
"He's right!" said Corona as she stood next to Bubble. "We haven't heard from him all morning, and Bubble has a videotape to prove it!"  
"Oh I can see what's coming", sighed Chad. "Let's just fast forward to how to find him."  
"I'm telling you now that it's not gonna be easy", frowned Kiwi.  
Brio turned towards her. "Why not?"  
"Because we don't know where their hideout is!"  
Travis then sighed before standing up. "Looks like we're gonna do it the hard way..."  
He went to the back door and opened it, but despite being a beautiful day already, some of the snow from last night has remained there.  
He then gasped. "Hey guys – we're in luck!"  
Everyone quickly rushed over to him, with a miracle right in front of their eyes.  
"Footprints!!" Kiwi gasped.  
"Yep – they're footprints of high-heeled shoes all right", smirked Snappy.  
"Maybe we should track them down and find our target", Kiwi said with a broad smile.  
"Good idea", chuckled Gadget. "If we lose him now, then now what are we gonna do?"  
"Don't panic", Chad said calmly. "We have to move fast!"  
Quickly they followed the footprints by foot towards their target. Little did they know that their journey was going to be tougher, now that the temperature is coming towards 100ºF, and this means that the snow could vanish.

* * *

"Come on sunshine, wake up and smell the fear."  
A female voice managed to bring full alert to a figure lying near her. He could hear her voice, he could feel a cold table upon his back, and he can smell the dust hanging in the air… yet his vision was pitch black.  
"Wh...where am I? I can't see a thing..."  
"That's what they all say", she then giggled viciously.  
"And... what's with my body? I can't move!"  
"You wanna know why?"  
"Please, if anything!!!"  
"Be prepared to see the light!"  
And in split-second timing, a black blindfold was taken away from the figure's eyes, leaving him to look straight into the eyes of Mozzarella Cheese, with an abandoned factory being the backdrop ahead of his viewpoint.  
"Now what have you to say to that?" Mozzarella snickered as she looked on at the figure.  
It wasn't long until she leant on top of the figure, who showed himself to be Neo. He was shown handcuffed to a conveyor belt on the feet, hands and neck.  
"For a person named after a dairy product", he started, "you're just plain rotten!"  
"Thank you", she smiled pleasantly.  
"Hoo boy", Neo sighed as he rolled his eyes.  
"Well you're probably wondering your purpose now, are you, Corty- boy?"  
"Shoo fly", he growled. "Don't bother me."  
"Corty-boy! Corty-boy! Corty-boy! Oh... how many times have I said that?" Mozzarella then glared at him viciously.  
"Just show him the termination weapon!" said Tiko's voice from behind her.  
"OK!" she then moved out of his view.  
Then in front of his eyes, there was a grinding machine up ahead, where the conveyor belt passed just half a centimeter under a massive steel wheel.  
"This is what I call..." Mozzarella sneered, "the Iron Maiden!"  
"That's a nice name and all", Neo started, "but why the lack of originality?"  
The enemies in the room had large sweat drops down the sides of their faces.  
"Was there something else with that name? I never knew..." she shrugged before turning to the machine. "As soon as I start the machine the conveyor belt will carry you towards the wheel, and grind you in half!" she paid attention to the lever. "Which will be too easy!"  
She walks up to the wheel and grabbed onto it, but... it never budged!  
"Oh bloomin' 'eck!" she kicked the machine, causing her foot to rebound from the surface. "I forgot the most important thing of all!" She then turned towards the others around her. "Give me a tee."  
"T", they said in low toned voices as they placed their arms out horizontally.  
"Give me a tee!" she started to say with a more vicious tone.  
"T!" the others repeated their actions.  
"I SAID GIVE ME A TEE!!" she snapped on at the others.  
"T!!!" they shouted while placing their arms horizontally again.  
Mozzarella then gave out a vicious sigh. "You guys are as thick as milkshakes, you are." She then started to leave the room. "We're not gonna get this thing working without a golf tee..."  
"Oh right", Tiko said with confused eyes.  
"Call me thick?" Soup growled back to her. "I'm a criminal mastermind!"  
"Yeah, and I'm one of those people who got six high school diplomas before moving onto a career in the movie business", Deksta shouted back while thinking back to her late teenager days.  
The door was slammed shut, leaving Neo in the room alone. The secret was out, but even with that in mind, there still had to be a way to escape. The handcuffs were already known to be tough to beat, as well as escaping without the others noticing. After looking around the room, he then heard some waves of water from outside, and with that, he gave out a promising smile.

* * *

The sun was already at its mid-morning position, and the golden sands started glimmering like precious jewels. Even at this stage this area was packed with people as far as the eye could see. The babies and toddlers were crawling about in the sand, most of the children were building sandcastles close to the sea, the teens and young adults were romancing themselves with their big muscles (in the male case) and eye-popping thongs (in the female case) with some of these surfing and swimming in the sea, and the adults were lying down on beach towels, soaking up some sun. Near one of them, there were some familiar footprints, and as we looked on, the search team had ended up around here. Misty was panting her socks off at the back of the line and eventually fell on the sand.  
"Come on slowpoke!!!" Bubble cried out towards her.  
Misty growled before bringing her head up. "Hey, it's not MY fault I take less exercise than all o ya!"  
"We know, but we can't give up now!" said Snappy as she pulled her up onto both feet.  
"You don't realize that I really didn't want to do this", she sighed to him.  
"What did you say?"  
Gadget resorted to stepping on Snappy's foot, causing him to yelp and hop up and down on the other. "After nearly a day of being together you don't even know about Misty's relationship with your friend?"  
"What was it?" he said while losing balance and falling onto his back.  
She then sighed. "You're as thick as a milkshake, you are..."  
"You guys are as thick as milkshakes", said another female voice from nearby.  
"Déjà vu", Snappy said while carefully bringing himself back up.  
"More than that", blinked Travis. "That voice is from Mozzarella Cheese!"  
"I think we're getting close here", Kiwi smiled.  
"You're right!" Corona exclaimed while pointing on at the group, coming inside the warehouse again. "They're right next to that abandoned warehouse over there!"  
"And I think we have found their hideout!" Chad smiled on at her.  
Brio then gave off a devious laugh. "That was toooooo easy!  
"This one is ours for the taking, I guarantee!" Chad said while patting Boron and Goliath, whom were both growling towards the door.  
They quickly dashed towards the entrance of the warehouse, unexpected of the surprises up ahead. Having been an ABANDONED warehouse, they may consider themselves lucky in there... or will they?

* * *

From a bright red locked door, the vault started to open slowly, and through the door came Tiko and the others. Mozzarella, leading them, had a vicious smirk on her face, and one of her hands carrying something that can't quite be identified yet. Finally she came towards the Iron Maiden with determination spelt across her face (no pun intended)! She got a towel and rubbed the face paint markings off her face, and then leered down to her target.  
"Finally I have what I want!" she said while holding a small white golf tee in front of Neo's eyes.  
He then gulped. "I have a bad feeling about this..."  
"HA! It's too late, Corty-boy!" she sneered on at him, leaving him to growl back. "Once this is in place your life is over", she continued to speak as she brought the tee closer to her own eyes.  
She then went straight up to the machine and slotted in the tee, leaving her to pull the lever down with ease.  
"Farewell Neo Cortex, the so-called Chosen One – you will have that title... no more!!!" she started snickering back towards her opponent.  
"Way to go, Missy Mo!" Tiko cheered on in the background.  
The conveyor belt started moving gradually, but the wheel spun around as mad as it possibly could. With the pressure of the handcuffs squeezing down alongside, it seemed like there wasn't a chance to escape. Time was ticking away, and at this stage he passed just a quarter of the journey. But just then… one of the windows shattered into pieces, and through it came the others! There could be a light at the end of the tunnel for him.  
"What the...?" Mozzarella gasped.  
"Stop that thing now!" Snappy verbally fought back.  
"Oh, shall I?" she sneered. "Let me demonstrate something!"  
She goes up to the lever and tries to pull it back up again, but... the lever snapped!  
"Sorry, but once it starts, it never stops!" she smirked will looking onto the others. "Well, unless something happens inside the machine."  
"AH!" Snappy shouted as he focused his attention to the others. "Corona, Travis, Bubble and Brio, you try and destroy the…" He turned to Mozzarella with a confused look. "What's it called?"  
"Iron Maiden."  
"I think SHE'S as thick as a milkshake", he sadistically laughed before turning to the others. "Kiwi, Boron and Goliath, you guys try and free Neo from the-"  
"But the handcuffs are made outta steel!" the parrot frowned. "How am I gonna peck through that?"  
"My claws may be a teeny bit fragile but they're still tough", he smiled. "Think about it."  
"Oh right!"  
"The rest of you will come with me and take on the jerks!"  
"Get ready guys", she sneered before turning backwards… awaiting a surprise. "What?"  
No one was behind her at all!  
"Chickens!" she growled under her breath.  
"Change of plan", smirked Snappy. "I'll help you guys destroy that machine and Gadget, you help the pets set Neo free."  
"No problemo!" she said with a light smile.  
"Let's go!"  
Within no time at all everyone quickly reached their battle stations. Snappy and his party were slashing away at the machine furiously but at this stage there was no damage. Meanwhile Gadget and the others had a few problems on how to break the handcuffs, or stop the conveyor belt from moving any further. But Misty and Chad however... didn't come in with an attack as yet!  
"Yeah! You never know what she'd come up with", said the turtle.  
"What, after a while of battling against her?" Chad asked her. "You know that she has the..."  
"...magic finger?" She finished off her sentence and showed her index finger on her right hand. "Once this is triggered you guys are mincemeat."  
"If you wanna make someone mincemeat", she growled before turning to Neo, now two thirds of the way to the grinder, "try that pig for size."  
"MISTY! LIVEN UP FOR ONCE!!!" Chad exclaimed while leering into her face.  
"Why should I?"  
"Because if you don't, we're easy targets..."  
And easy targets he was right – Mozzarella quickly fired a white beam of power towards the two of them... but they barely escaped it... and struck the side of the Iron Maiden!  
"Come on people!" Snappy started singing. "Thiiiiings can only get betteeeer..."  
Suddenly a clank was heard, leaving him to almost jump from his position, with his eyes widening along with his actions.  
"What the...!"  
He then looked towards the side of the machine, and saw a surprise in front of him through its circuits. What he saw in front of him... was the conveyor belt getting faster! By then the conveyor belt moved to its three-quarter point... and yet there hasn't been a single scratch on the handcuffs!  
"OH - MY - GAWSH!" Snappy shouted, as he turned towards the rest of his team. "SPEED UP GUYS - WE'RE IN MORE HOT WATER THAN WE THINK WE ARE!!!"  
"Yes sir!!!" they exclaimed before charging into the machine faster than before.  
Whilst this was going on, the power of the magic finger was spread about all over the place, tearing down some parts of the warehouse, ranging from water pipes to electricity cables. The sirens started going red, and the whole area started to cave in.  
"WE NEED TO GET OUT – QUICK!" Misty screamed.  
"But what about Neo?" Chad asked. "Without him we can't-"  
"WHO FOR PETE'S SAKE CARES??? JUST GO!!" she exclaimed.  
"A good soldier never leaves a man behind!" Gadget shouted back.

* * *

Back outside, the beach activities were going on as normal until... an explosion occurred. The whole warehouse went up in smoke and everyone panicked as they saw this occur. Within a few seconds a black shadow could be seen from the smoke. Sooner enough we see her... as Misty.  
She came to a stop near a rock, catching her breath. "Who needs them?"  
She starts walking off, but sooner enough, she came to a stop. She then looked to the sky... with more of a concerned expression across her face. Then a few thoughts came in her head.  
_"We heard that the Chosen One could do totally different things to what normal people could do",_ said Bubble's voice in her mind.  
_"We can't win the wars without him!"_ followed Corona's enthusiastic voice.  
_"Way to go Neo dude!"_ followed Snappy's.  
_"Yeah – where could we be without you?"_ followed Gadget's sweet tone.  
Misty's own voice took a deep breath before shouting. _"He's just a downright show-off!"_ it exclaimed with an echo on the last word.  
The thoughts came out from her mind. She then started to feel much more uncomfortable, and started shaking. Finally she turned back into the now ash-ridden warehouse... and saw no signs of life... but then...  
"HEY!"  
Misty gasped at the sound of the voice. "OVER HERE!!"  
It wasn't long until eleven more shadows could be made out from the smoke, one of them limping as he ran – the rest of the gang survived the blast!  
"WHOA – YOU'RE ALIVE!!" she exclaimed happily as she went towards them. "Ah", she started to speak again with tears of joy. "Where would I be without you?"  
Kiwi then growled by pulling her up by her t-shirt collar. "Never mind that – how about where YOU would be without your head!!!" she said while leering on at her.  
"Yeah right", Misty responded while rolling her eyes.  
"Chick, I'm for real!" The parrot started exclaiming rhythmically, dropping the turtle to the ground as she did so. "Shut your mouth you dirty girl! You know you want it in your world..."  
"Ladies, please don't fight", Neo said as he stepped between the pair. "We've been involved in too many already." He then brought his attention straight towards Misty. "Speaking of which, I'd like to thank you for sending your crew out there into saving my life."  
She then turned away from him. "I was just doin' it for myself."  
"But Misty..."  
She started looking around the beach... and saw a tipped over crate of Brussels sprouts at her feet.  
"You don't understand mate", she growled as she picked up a sprout. "Us turtles are like sprouts!"  
"They stink?" Neo said with a confused expression.  
"Yes..." Her eyes widened after she said that. "I MEAN NO!!! Look at them – they're green, and that's my color all the time."  
"Be careful with her - she's always moody", Chad sighed before he suddenly felt a painful joly across his right leg. "OW! MY ANKLE!!"  
"WHAT?!!?" Misty growled on at him.  
"He said that she'd like to pose as a nudie!" Snappy exclaimed with a toothy grin, leaving Misty to show an expression of disgust.  
Chad was soon helped up onto both feet by Gadget and Corona. "By the way, did any of you see Cheese on the way out?"  
Everyone shook their heads and said a moan-like "no".  
"Well that's OK", nodded Brio. "Looks like she'd be out of the road for a long time."  
"I'm not sure, because her psychic power can teleport her to safety. Who knows where she'd be", Gadget sighed as she placed her head down.  
"I'll be on the lookout when we get home", Travis smiled.  
Bubble then brought out a smile. "That's my boy, always prepared!"  
The golden sands blew in the wind pretty rapidly as they left the beach back to their apartment, but a bit slower, due to Chad's ankle. Back at the ruins a black hand started to rise from it, as a set of police cars surrounded it. The good alliance had taken care of half of the evil alliance, but with that in mind they know that the last three will be the hardest to annihilate, yet the location for them is yet to be known.

-end of part 4-


	5. The Feminine Wrath

Travis was sitting on a stool by the window looking through a powerful telescope, with Goliath standing by his side. At some intervals he started biting into a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, chewing on his bites for nothing more than a few mere seconds. But at one stage... he looked to his left... towards a picture of a happy cat family, with the town of Artesia in New Mexico in the background. He started to shred a few tears down his face slowly. Then, the sound of three gentle knocks came to his ears.  
"Come in", the cat frowned.  
The door opened, and Brio came in with a suspicious looking face.  
"I have a question to ask you", he started speaking.  
"Sure", he nodded. "Fire away."  
"You know your last name's "Tortoiseshell", right?" Brio asked while reflecting upon the memory of Chad's introductions upon the time they met.  
"Right", the cat nodded.  
"I was one of those people who knew your father. What happened to him after his defeat?"  
He gave out a few tears, heartbroken at how someone else previously knew about him. "You don't wanna know."  
"Come on - I can take it!" he smiled at him.  
"OK", he said while breaking down. "all I can tell you... was that... my parents got divorced... and..." he gave out a quivered sigh, "...my dad left the town... with me and my twin brother..." he continued speaking, struggling to hold back the tears, "...and then..." he frowned, lowering his head. "...you don't wanna know..."  
There was silence in the room for a few seconds. Then there was a response.  
"I understand", smiled Brio.  
Goliath climbed onto the workbench and started stroking Travis on the head with one of his front paws, giving out a few moans.  
"Thanks Golly", he said while hugging him. "I'm afraid nothing will make me overcome this problem."  
"Don't panic though - a good movie always does it for me. Maybe after this crisis is over, your flatmates could take you out to see a film or something."  
"Yeah, go see Tomb Raider!" came Snappy's voice from the hallway.  
"What?!?!?" both Brio and Travis exclaimed in unison.  
"Er, maybe I'm thinking a bit TOO far ahead", the alligator said with a deeper tone.  
"I..." He turned towards Travis. "I guess it could work. Thanks."  
Then they remained silent again... until some voices were heard in the distance. Immediately Travis looked through the telescope... and gasped. Right there were Tiko and his group, all looking at one another in a triangle formation.  
"If we can't capture this town in THIS dimension, how about we do it in another!" he bossed towards the others.  
"Good idea", smiled Deksta.  
"But how are we supposed to travel by different dimensions?" Soup asked.  
"Remember when we kidnapped Neo earlier this morning?" she recalled.  
"Right..."  
"Well I found a gadget hidden within the building's underground lab!" she said while revealing a remote-like device. "We just turn the dial... and there we go!"  
"Prove it!" Tiko exclaimed to her.  
"OK!" she said while turning the knob on the device.  
And through their eyes, they saw them leave in a puff of smoke. That left Travis to scream at the sight of them.  
"I FOUND THE OTHERS!!!" he said while running out of the room, almost running into Brio and Goliath as he did so.  
"Whoa!" Brio exclaimed.

* * *

Several minutes later, the group minus Neo and Bubble were see around in a circle formed inside the main seating area, listening to Travis's comment.  
"And now they've taken it into another dimension!" he screamed.  
"Could you remember which way she pulled it?"  
"I think it was a 90-degrees turn clockwise", he sighed.  
"You seemed pretty good for a smart kid like yourself!" Chad grinned. "Luckily enough, we have another dimension travelling machine there."  
There were some cheers among the people.  
"Unfortunately it's still in progress right now, so who knows how it's gonna work out in the end", he frowned.  
"Don't panic - I see a lot of good in it", nodded Corona.  
"And I have even worse news", sighed Chad.  
"What now?" Kiwi asked him.  
He then pointed towards his right leg. "Ever wondered why I was limping on the way back? I think I twisted an ankle back at the warehouse. I'm afraid that I can't come with you."  
"Same here - I'll try and heal it for you!" Gadget smiled with a reassuring expression.  
"Ditto!" Misty shouted back. "If we let you go now then chances are that you'd die in battle!"  
"Thanks", he smiled before turning to the others. "Good luck!"  
The others quickly walked down towards the depths of the lab, where their method of transportation awaits. The dimension they're about to travel in is yet to be predictable, but who knows what it could be like! A new world is a cometh!

* * *

The Other Dimension seemed dark to start with, what with only the stars in the sky making any light whatsoever. Despite this, the steel floor showed some great reflections of these bright lumps of rock. But within the mostly darkness, a sinister laugh was heard. Further on ahead came a large shadow, looking on at something ahead of him.  
"YES!!! Thank you Chad for giving me an easy getaway!"  
He soon stepped out of the darkness, letting his armor glimmer with the metal floor, and revealed himself... as Sgt. Soup! The others soon came out from behind him, being Tiko and Deksta.  
"Hey, I was responsible for the stealing work, not Chad!" she growled to him.  
"I know, but knowing his age he would release his grip upon the device go too easily!" Tiko shrugged in return.  
Soup looked down at the device, which was still within Deksta's grasp. "You got any ideas for what to do next?"  
Deksta then started speaking in a higher-pitched English accent. "It's funny you should say that sir, for I have a cunning plan." She winked before speaking properly. "From here we can transport the rest of the city into this dimension and convince them all to join our side."  
"This may seem a bit tough", started Tiko, "but it's worth a try."

* * *

In the darkened area of the underground laboratory, white energy beams could be seen glowing down everywhere, and the sound of clanging with metal can be heard in the corner.  
At this stage we see Bubble putting the finishing touches to a golden metal box of some sort, with a handheld polishing machine in operation. As soon as he turned it off he picked up an old scrapbook from the floor, looked inside it, and then at his creation. Having seen the result, he gave out a proud smile. But the silence was interrupted by a wolf whistle in another area. Immediately he turned in that direction... and saw Neo near the front door, admiring it from a distance. With the raise of an eyebrow and a shine from his teeth, Bubble gave a wink back.  
"That's a nice machine you've got there!" complimented Neo.  
"Thankie", smiled the starfish.  
Neo then brought his eyes down onto the scrapbook, seeing the blueprints for what seemed like a dimension-travelling machine. "You don't mind if I... take a peek inside?"  
"Here you go!" Bubble responded with picking it up and throwing it in his direction.  
He caught it quickly, but when he opened it in the middle... he saw that the writing looked like spider tracks. It was totally unreadable...  
"I have another question to ask", Neo frowned. "How can you understand what to do when you can't read the awkward handwriting?"  
"Ah, I've gained experience by handling quite a lot of Airfix models in my time", Bubble said in return. "They don't call me the Technical Starfish for nothin'!"

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the Other Dimension, Tiko and the others were looking on as Deksta was about to teleport the whole of the town from one dimension to another.  
"Are you sure this is gonna work?" Tiko asked her.  
"Positive. I may have botched some missions a few times, but this baby's not gonna fail me." She then turned the dial. "Come on Miami - come to me!"  
But within the next few seconds all sorts of things came in, including flying pigs, white elephants and the Titanic!!!  
"This wasn't quite what I had in mind", she panicked.  
She turned the dial again and sent them all back. As that happened a glowing vortex could be seen in the distance.  
"Did you send Hurricane Kevin in here?" Tiko asked.  
The others shrugged.

* * *

Sooner enough, the vortex stopped and this caused a golden metallic box to come in. As soon as it stopped the door opened... and the good alliance came out.  
"So, this must be the Other Dimension, huh?" Snappy asked.  
"I hope this is the one that Tiko and that were in", nodded Bubble. "If not, we're mincemeat."  
"Speaking of which..." Neo panicked, "YOUR ENGINE'S ON FIRE!!!!"  
Bubble then turned back towards the machine. "Wha...?"  
Quickly he dashed back and opened up the boot, and out came a whole batch of smoke! Soon it cleared up and he looked into the problem.  
"I don't understand", he frowned. "Somehow the fuel cells have gone dry."  
"In other words?" Corona asked.  
"We've taken too little diesel with us!!!"  
"ACK!" squealed Kiwi.  
Brio then looked out into the distance with a nervous expression. "What's worse, we've got company... and they're coming right towards us!!!"  
Everyone else stood near him, and looked on... at a metallic tarantula-like machine coming towards them. They took a step back... and looked on at this peril. Time was closing in too soon, as it came walking slowly. As it stepped further and further into the light... we saw it more of a robot. Finally... it stopped about 10 metres in front of our heroes. A hatch soon opened, and out came Deksta! Tiko and Sgt. Soup soon followed her shortly after, and both gave out evil smirks directly at them.  
"They're up to something", Kiwi pondered. "I just KNEW that they're up to something."  
"They always are!" Corona growled.  
"Well well well, if it isn't the big-headed brat and his clown circus", Deksta said while leering over at her youngest brother.  
"Big-headed?!?!?" Neo responded with a shout, "I'll show you who's the big headed one..."  
"Yeah, it's Albert Einstein!" Snappy shouted happily, with everyone else leering in his direction.  
"I never realized that you would come and cause the roadblock on our highway to our dream", Deksta sighed while folding her arms.  
Bubble gave out an angry sigh. "Oh for Pete's sake, it's more of a nightmare to us."  
"But from this distance, I've seen you guys suffer", she sneered back.  
"Hoo boy", Corona blinked. "She's gonna be nice for a change."  
"I hope not - she'll betray us too easily", Brio frowned.  
"Which is why..." Deksta then raised her voice. "I'm pitting you in an ultimate challenge!"  
Neo stepped forward with a smirk. "OK, what is it?"  
"You guys and us guys... are gonna be in a battle together."  
"Hey look - we have a party three times bigger than yours!!!" Snappy cracked up. "Piece - of - cake!" he said with his tongue sticking out.  
"Having seen that you're unarmed", Deksta started, "things are gonna go... MY WAY!!!"  
She got out a remote that was different to the dimension-travelling device and pushed a few buttons. The "tarantula" moved its legs to the left, then to the right, and then its front legs moved up into the sky. Most of the group looked on at its actions with widened eyes.  
"Is that it?" Neo frowned.  
Sweat drops appeared on everyone else's faces as they fell over.  
"What, that doesn't impress you, eh?" scowled Deksta. "Well this thing has a lot more than meets the eye", she continued with a wink. "We will all fight to the finish. If you win, you can do whatever you want with us, depending on the outcome."  
After hearing that, Snappy started whispering in Corona's ear, who passed it on to the others carefully. Once it got to Neo, he raised both eyebrows twice and made an agreeable smile.  
"And if we lose?"  
"To put things simply, you won't be seeing the light of day for a long time, as well as being without a funeral", she smirked back.  
Tiko nodded from the sidelines. "Yeah, that's using the old doodle."  
"Perfect!" brawled Soup. "Mind you, it doesn't matter if she loses or not - we have more danger than you can think of."  
Deksta picked up her dimension-travelling device and fired it onto Tiko and Sgt. Soup... and they were transported out of the area! That left her to switch devices to the spider-mech's remote.  
"Come on - bring it to me!"  
She grabbed onto a pulley on the remote... and that told it to fire an energy beam that was a metre in diameter!  
"LOOK OUT!!" Brio exclaimed.  
The beam was shot... and they were all sent on the run! Neo, Brio, Boron and Goliath went in one direction, while the others took another.  
"Remember the plan", Neo started shouting. "Snappy and Kiwi, go for Deksta! Bubble, Corona and Travis, you guys try and keep the metal beast busy! We'll go for the cockpit!"  
"YES SIR!!!" they saluted over at him.  
The energy beam continued shooting rapidly, as Neo and his crew were out of its sight, alongside Snappy and Kiwi. This left the others suffering the effects of a chase by the largest energy beam they could find! Eventually... the beam struck Corona, sending her down to the floor unconscious.  
"CORONA!!!!" Bubble exclaimed towards her.  
"Hang on!" shouted Travis with a scream.  
Round the back of the machine, Neo and his crew were struggling to break into the engine area, due to the wolverines unable to break the tough armour, Bubble and Travis were also suffering in getting Corona back... but Snappy and Kiwi had something geared up in mind on the way to the top of the machine. Both hiding in an unused gun arm, they waited in ambush for their attack.  
"So you're sure that the only way to stop the gunfire is to steal that remote thing from Deksta?" Kiwi asked.  
Snappy gave out a nod. "Uh-huh, and when we get it, we'll be able to destroy it, and we'll get the invention she stole from us."  
"Like you said before, this is gonna be a piece of cake", she smiled while seeing Snappy stick his tongue out with cheekiness. "Well then, it's time for action!"  
"Kiwi, wait!"  
It was already too late - Kiwi made a high fly towards Deksta... and landed carefully on top of her head!  
She giggled with a sinister tone, oblivious to Kiwi's actions. "Soon you will somehow face the dangers of..."  
Kiwi then hung upside down from the top of her head, bringing her eyes towards Deksta. "PEEKABOO!"  
Deksta screamed at her, before she brought out her buzzer again. "Time to make you a lump of Miami - as proposed to Southern - Fried Chicken!"  
"But I'm a parrot!"  
Deksta didn't take notice. She immediately struck her buzzer down towards her hair...  
"Power surge at 10 o' clock!" Kiwi exclaimed as she flew off her head.  
The electrodes touched her hair... and within the next few seconds we saw her getting fried to a crisp, with her skeleton showing through the light! A bad aroma also filled the area, with Bubble and Travis holding their noses as they ran... while the others were seen wearing gas masks, communicating with muffled voices.  
"Are you sure that these would come in handy?" Neo said with a painful expression. "They feel a bit cramp..."  
"Don't blame me", shrugged Brio. "It's the only thing that Golly here has, right?"  
Goliath responded with a bark through his own mask. While that happened, Deksta started to lose control of herself, causing the beam from the spider machine to move out of the way!  
"We're free!!" Travis exclaimed happily.  
Bubble brought his attention back onto Corona. "Quick - we gotta take her back inside!"  
And finally they grabbed onto her arms as firm as they could and dragged her into the golden box. Finally, the thunderbolt stopped. That left Deksta's face to show her hair sticking up, smoke covering her face, and her walking and speech to act dizzy.  
"Now to... destroy my colleagues and help the town...!" she said faintly before falling inside the machine.  
That caused the tarantula to glow red, and as soon as Travis and Bubble stepped out of the machine, they both gasped with shock.  
"QUICK, BACK THERE!!" Bubble shouted while pointing at the machine.  
While that happened, Boron screamed while leading his side of the team towards the golden box. By then, steam was now hissing out of the machine, and some of the nuts and bolts were coming out. As the machine started to swell, Snappy started panicking and jumped down from his spot, while Boron and Goliath came out from round the back, grabbing hold of Neo and Brio as they ran on all fours - threes rather. Kiwi squawked madly as a rush of steam went in her face, and she too started making her journey back.  
And then, the machine finally exploded into millions of pieces... and luckily enough, they managed to escape it alive. Finally, when it faded out, they all looked into each other's eyes and headed back to the wrecks. They started digging in for Deksta's body... but after clearing the heart of the wrecks, nothing was found.  
"Strange", Neo sighed. "I thought she didn't stand a chance of escaping this event alive."  
"Yeah, wonder where she went", Brio shrugged.  
"GUYS!!" Travis shouted. "Come over here - I've found something!"  
Everyone quickly dashed over to see Travis in possession... of a broken dimension-travelling device, and Deksta's buzzer.  
"I hate to say this, but I have a bad feeling that she has escaped this event... alive."  
"Yeah, but where to?" Bubble frowned.  
"I hate to say this", sighed Neo, "but this is a question that will remain unanswered for a long time."

* * *

A white warp appeared in the middle of a cute looking road, with lollipop trees and unrealistic scenery. Finally the warp faded out, and Deksta was seen looking fried.  
"Thank goodness I'm outta that peril but..." she sighed, before looking around her. "Where am I?"  
"CAN WE FIX IT?" shouted a distant male voice.  
"YES WE CAN!!" exclaimed several others.  
Along the horizon, she saw a man in shadow on top of a scoop truck, with four other construction vehicles coming down the road with it. As soon as they came into the light... they came into view as Bob The Builder and his crew.  
Deksta gave out a panicked squeal, before she started running down the path, away from the talking vehicles. "Bloomin' heck - not here!!!"

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the Other Dimension, the group managed to make their walk away from the ruins of the spider mech, looking on at their dimension-traveling machine.  
"Well no matter what, the main thing now is to try and find a way back", sighed Snappy.  
"Unfortunately we have two problems people", blinked Kiwi. "Problem A - the transportation box ran out of fuel on arrival. Problem 2 - the dimension- traveling remote is busted."  
Everyone sighed and looked down as they now thought that a way out will never be possible.  
But as Bubble looked down... he then looked up and smiled! Quickly he dashed over to Corona's body, stole her guitar and took her flamethrower out. But he wasn't the only one aware of this.  
"Bubble, what are you doing?" Neo asked him.  
"Just hang on!"  
He opened a fuel hatch, emptied most of the contents in there... and used the rest to start the machine!  
"YES!!" the starfish shouted before turning to the others. "Quick guys - inside!"  
Within a split moment, everyone came inside, with the wolverines carrying Corona's body in there, and placed her on a small (but wide enough) shelf.  
"Well done, Starfish!!!" Brio cheered on for him.  
"You did it!!!" Neo chuckled. "Next stop - Miami!"  
"Wait a minute - we just lit a big pile of flamethrower fuel..." Kiwi's face dropped. "What if it'll explode-"  
A boom soon occurred in the machine. Quickly the transportation box went up into the sky at light speed, with everyone inside grabbing on for dear life. Finally it broke the sound barrier, caused a sonic boom and started to glow white. Then it faded out.  
Back inside, the speed suddenly decreased.  
"May I have your attention please", smiled Kiwi. "You can now remove your seatbelts and let go of the handrails. We should arrive back in Miami in the next 10 minutes. Thank you."  
Everyone released their grip of whatever they were holding and sighed.  
"By the way, do you think that's enough fuel for the return journey?" the parrot asked Bubble.  
"Course it is. That's double the amount that I put in, so whatever's left will go back in the flamethrower."  
"Problem is, it'll be hard to put out the fire on burning oil", sighed Brio.  
"Not necessarily", Neo smiled. "Maybe we should go for a fire extinguisher filled with carbon dioxide. That would restore the rest of the oil back to normal, as well as blocking the fire's oxygen supply."  
"Yeah, that seems good!" Snappy widely grinned back. "But... how are we gonna get the oxygen supply back?"  
Neo resorted to punching Snappy across the jaw. "Get some sense into yourself - that question you asked was a stupid one. And besides, when the fire goes out, the gas spreads out along the room."  
"Oh yeah", the alligator blushed. "How come I didn't think of that? Oh... because I never graduated at elementary school, that's why!"  
Everyone else rolled their eyes, and as this happened, Corona started to regain consciousness. As she looked around the room, she saw herself... with a team celebrating victory. Finally she looked up again.  
Several seconds passed before she looked to the others again, and they were sharing champagne among themselves - except for Travis, who had a glass of cream soda in his hand.  
She finally looked up again, and did a last smile before closing her eyes again. It won't be long before they arrive back in Miami, where Tiko and Sgt. Soup will be in wait. But the question is... how are they going to find them?

-end of part 5-


	6. Heaven is a Half Pint

It had been a couple of hours since the dimension travellers returned safely, and are now starting to gear up for their battle. Those that didn't go and help Chad's injury heal up are still working on it right now. As this was happening, some footsteps could be heard on the corridor as a black feminine figure came into one of the rooms with a service tray. Once inside she came to a stop, and looked on at Chad and Gadget. Then she came out of the darkness.  
"Hey look - medicine is served!" Misty smiled.  
They both rose and looked down... at a bottle of cod liver oil and a teaspoon.  
"And after that there's a treat", she said while lifting a china lid over a silver plate, revealing a strange dish. "Runner beans on toast!"  
Chad's eyes lit up at the sight of it, while Gadget uncontrollably turned green at the sight of it. During that time, he rose and started dashing towards the tray. When he got there... he looked down at his leg and smiled.  
"Hey, I can finally run again!" he gasped.  
"All that for the most gruesome snack on Earth", sighed Gadget, rolling her eyes.  
"Ditto", Misty shrugged. "By the way, I heard that Travis is making good progress with the detection for Tiko and Sgt. Soup."  
"Really?" both Chad and Gadget exclaimed in unison.  
"Yeah!" the turtle smiled. "I heard that he built a radar to find him - with the help of Bubble, of course."  
"So what's it meant to be - a metal detector?" Chad asked.  
Misty rose her eyes. "How did you guess?"  
Gadget's eyes widened. "Er... to detect Soup's armour?"  
"Correct, brain-dead!" Misty leered to her. "Once we've found them then it's gonna be a free- for-all when we get to them!"  
"Hey people - I've found them!" shouted Travis's voice from the corridors.  
Misty looked on towards the main door. "What the...?"  
The other members of the gang started speeding down the corridor towards Travis's room, where he and Goliath have come across a hidden surprise. Quickly Misty and her team made it over as well, seeing the amazing discovery.  
"OK kitty, what is it this time?" Brio asked him.  
"You're not gonna believe this, but they're hiding over at Miami Beach."  
Most of the group gasped at his remark.  
"Isn't that where Neo dude here nearly got grinded in half?" blinked Snappy.  
"Well where else can it be - the scrap yard???" Neo responded while rolling his eyes.  
Snappy started to blush. "Sorry there...!"  
"Back at Miami Beach, you say?" Gadget said while she rubbed her chin with one finger. "Hmmm..." She then raised an eyebrow. "Now I don't like the road that this is going down."  
"Neither do I, but it's our only hope", Bubble frowned. "I mean, what if they have a more dangerous machine in there?"  
"Yeah like... c'mon people, there's always something better than that so- called 'Iron Maiden'", Kiwi growled under her breath.  
"Well think about it this way", said Travis. "We know for sure that Tiko and Sgt. Soup are tough criminals as they are already, but we need to be really careful with them, as well as paying our full potential, even with our Chosen One with us."  
Neo raised an eyebrow. "Travis, for a kid you've got some serious thinking power here."  
"Thank you!" the young cat smiled.  
Misty then started to leave the room. "OK people - now that the basics have been ruled over for one last time... LET'S MOVE!!!"  
She slammed the door open and ran out of the room, and the others soon followed her. Who knows what kind of surprise awaits the corner. Like Kiwi said, it could be more gruesome than the Iron Maiden, but gruesomeness isn't the main fear of heroes.

* * *

The warehouse among the beach showed itself to be just as deformed as ever. Along the tinny surface, a set of feet, with black strong boots, were thumping away at the floor in one direction... and then another... and back again.  
The anger starts to increase a bit more as a powerful-bodied soldier could be seen walking around the area. But wait - he sooner enough revealed a tail from behind him - an ox's tail.  
The face can be easily recognised now - it's Sgt. Soup, with a face filled with envy.  
"HOW I HATE THAT CHOSEN ONE! ALWAYS FOILING OUR PLANS!!!"  
"Hey hey, calm down", Tiko blinked as he followed him.  
"WHY SHOULD I, BLUE BOY?" he faced his angry expression towards Tiko. "Our business is gonna be ruined... AND IT'S ALL THAT BROTHERLY BASTARD'S FAULT!!!"  
"Please Soup, let's not lose our heads here", Tiko smiled sheepishly.  
"LOSE OUR HEADS?!?" Soup then panicked. "HEEEEELP!"  
Tiko gave out a sigh of disgust behind his back, as well as covering his eyes with his hand and shaking his head.  
"I know you seem pretty angry right now, and very outnumbered, but we can't lose now."  
"Screw your backside", Soup shouted back. "You've said that all the way and it never worked!"  
"I know, but having seen that we're the toughest members of the crew, they're never gonna stop us now!"  
"But what if they find us? And eliminate us BOTH???"  
"Hey, just chill, my friend. I know you seem depressed and all, but we have an easy way to get through." Tiko then picked up a wrench lying across the floor. "Remember - I'm the Master of Machinery here. Alone, I've constructed a truckload of robo-soldiers, and with them... we're gonna beef up the security."  
"Now that's the plan I'm talking about!" Soup smiled.  
"Yeah - the good alliance have to be INVISIBLE to get in!"  
There were silence for a couple of seconds, and then they both started vilely, quietly, and then the volume kept on getting increased, and the echoes could be heard throughout the building.

* * *

From the inside of the building, two known eyes could be seen looking through some holes in it. From outside, they were shown to be Neo's, with his companions waiting alongside him.  
"I hate to tell you this, but if we have to get in we have to be invisible!"  
"Oh stop being such a wuss over things, will ya?" Misty then pushed him out of the way. "Lemme take a look."  
She looked into the holes, and in front of her eyes... were a truckload of robo-soldiers patrolling the main hall.  
"Yikes!" she screamed.  
"Told you!!!" Neo shouted back at her.  
Misty then made her way back towards the others. "So who cares if you were right and I was wrong?" She brought her eyes back towards his. "Watch my wrath, jumbo-head - you're soon gonna..."  
Gadget then stepped in front of her. "Don't think about it. Even now we need him here - you never know how tough Sgt. Soup will harm us. Every battle we've had someone killed, including your recent boyfriend, Goliath's brother and last time it was my mother. I want this to change when we come in here. Right guys?"  
"YES!!!" everyone cheered around her.  
"Excellent!" she smiled while looking on at the front door. "Now the only problem is, how on earth are we gonna get in?"  
"Leave that to me!" Brio smiled as he brought out a small pistol.  
He stuck the end of the pistol inside one of the holes, and took out several magazines filled with bullets. He pulled the trigger and... that caused a lot of banging and smashing to take part on the other side.  
He kept on firing for a while, looking in a top hole for accuracy, and after a minute or two... the firing stopped.  
"All clear!" Brio smiled.  
Snappy gave out a wolf whistle towards him. "Hey Brio dude - that was excellent work there! You deserve it!"  
"Ah, it was nothin'", he said back while he blew the smoke away from the gun's nozzle.  
"Now that that's been sorted, how are we supposed to get past the steel door?" Corona asked.  
As she stopped speaking the door immediately opened in front of their eyes, causing them all to gasp.  
"Oh my gosh, how did that happen?" Kiwi questioned.  
"I'm thinking that it could be one of my bullets that went for a long distance run", shrugged Brio.  
Chad gave out a light chuckle. "You're a good shot!"  
While they spoke, Neo was left to step right in front of the others, looking on towards the warehouse's interior. "There it is - the main corridors, free for us to run in!" He turned towards the others. "Well come on people - let's go!"  
"Yes, but please, for the love of Pete... be careful in there", Bubble frowned.  
Neo responded with a wink. "We will, and that's a fact."  
So they started walking through the corridors carefully, and with caution. Snappy, Brio, Boron, Goliath, Corona, Misty and Travis were briskly walking (and racing) their way to the front of the queue, as they know that they could never be too careful. It wasn't long until the whole gang came across a junction in the main corridor, where there were two wooden doors, each of them slightly open.  
"I suppose this is where we find out where the baddies are then", shrugged Gadget.  
"What, after just three minutes and 27 seconds of running down the corridor?" Travis asked.  
"I don't know", sighed Gadget.  
"Hey, how about we check out what's behind those doors!" Snappy started to smile.  
Brio gave out a nod. "Good idea."  
So both of them went up to the doors and peaked through them. Then they closed them... with surprise spelt all over their faces.  
"THE BOILER ROOM!!!" Snappy exclaimed.  
"SERGEANT SOUP!!!" followed Brio.  
"Don't panic, please!" Neo said while bringing his hands out. "Now that we've come across the two important pieces of the puzzle, we now should be ready to go in and close down the warehouse like we did last time."  
"It blew up last time because of a careless Mozzarella, NOT our strength! Ha!" Misty then started laughing sadistically. "I'm right and you're wrong! Ha-ha-haha-ha!"  
Bubble then pulled her back by her pigtails. "Wait until he finishes, woman!"  
Neo then gave out a light sigh. "Yes, now can you please be silent while I give out the team plan?"  
There was silence.  
"Good", he smiled while turning to the door ahead of him. "There's the route to the Boiler Room over there, and we need some of the toughest in the team to try and destroy that, in which will eventually destroy the warehouse." He turned towards the others. "Brio, Bubble, Misty..."  
"Good riddance", she growled under her breath.  
"...Chad, Kiwi and Travis", Neo continued, "your job is to try and destroy the machinery in there. But be careful in there!"  
"YES SIR!" saluted Kiwi.  
"The rest of us should go next door and make a good attempt at slaughtering Sgt. Soup and his crew."  
"Yeah, but I'm not sure if we could defeat him, what with his club and that", blinked Gadget.  
"Don't worry about that - there's always a way to get round everything", nodded Neo.  
"But..." she then sighed. "...never mind."  
"OK, now that you know your objectives we'd best get to action quickly!"  
"RIGHT!!!" the others cheered on in front of him.  
Then they split up from the group into the two teams and headed into either door.

* * *

  
Sgt. Soup sat alone in the darkness. He knew that he had a chance of winning, much higher than the others, but what if after all these years he finally gets defeated and taken to jail? After teaming up with a punk that had hardly any experience in crime, he had thoughts around his head that his end could be very much nearby.  
But the thoughts... were interrupted by a set of footsteps coming across the room. He looked up... and saw one half of the good alliance right before his eyes.  
"Huh?" He breathed in heavily. "YOU?!?!?"  
"What's the matter?" Neo smiled. "Are you scared?"  
Soup then screamed before he looked towards the back of the room. "NO I'M NOT SCARED AT ALL!!!" He then sighed with stress. "Look at me - am I glowing red in rage?"  
"I doubt it yet", smiled Gadget, as the room suddenly started to circulate with several glowing colors around it, "but you will be soon... so EMBRACE YOURSELVES - WE ARE THE SAVIOURS OF THE 20th CENTURY!!"  
They all stepped forward one by one, smiling viciously towards Soup, whom just responded with a step back.  
"The name's Neo Cortex - pure and simple leader... and the Chosen One!"  
"Gadget Medulla - up and ready to kick your butt!"  
"Corona Grizzly - the bear with the fiery attitude!" she sneered as she pointed her flamethrower out towards him.  
Boron and Goliath rushed to the front and started guarding the three of them. "That's Sir Goliath and his son Boron", Neo nodded. "The deadliest wolverines in town!"  
"And Snappy Gator, the loooove machine of the United States", he winked while speaking with a romantic voice.  
"HA! You don't scare me!" Soup growled towards the group. "You're just a crew of street rats!!!"  
"Wanna bet, skint?" Gadget said with a laugh.  
"OK, but it's not gonna be pretty." He rushed to the back of the room... and pulled out a long steel club! Soup then started swiping it. "En guarde! Touché!"  
"Oh, that is SO clich", Neo said while rolling his eyes.  
This could be it - Sgt. Soup is now alone, and is now outnumbered against six others. But his weapon could come in handy - you never know.

* * *

Over at the boiler room. the lighting in it seemed like it was perfectly lit as the remainders in the gang saw the main boiler machine right ahead of them... plus a lot of boxes.  
"Er, Brio, I think you've found a lot more than just the boiler", nodded Kiwi.  
"What do you mean?"  
"Look at Travis - he's trying to break the boxes open! I have a bad feeling that he's getting really suspicious right now."  
Travis turned towards the parrot. "Stick your beak out of my business!"  
"Sorry", the parrot said sheepishly.  
He kept on hacking away at the crate... and it was there that a part of the wood snapped off! From there he tore the rest away and saw... goodness-knows-how-many bottles of milk!  
"Yummy!!!" he shouted. "Hey, can I take one home?"  
"No, because they're part of Tiko and Soup's plans", Bubble said in a calm voice.  
"Really?" Chad said with a confused glance. "How can milk get involved at a time like this...?"  
"That's for me to know - and you not to find out!"  
Bubble's eyes widened at the sound of the voice. "Uh-oh..."  
"Watch out people - this dude's gonna mean some serious harm!" Misty exclaimed with fear.  
From the shadows, the person with the voice showed himself as... Tiko! Immediately he was showing off his teeth with a vile looking smirk.  
"I'm afraid", Kiwi said while shaking her wings. "I'm very afraid."  
"RUN!!!" Misty shouted.  
Immediately, Tiko brought a shotgun in his hand. He pulled down the trigger, causing it to bang. And as that happened, Misty escaped from the clutches and dashed out of the room, regardless of what could be behind her. All she could hear were more footsteps, as she made her way down the main corridor towards the main entrance. Finally she stepped out into the light, and onto the smooth sandy shores of Miami Beach. At this point sweat was pouring down her face, and as she looked back... she saw Chad and Brio following her. Finally she stopped and panted for air.  
"Did we lose him?" Chad asked her.  
"I think so", she smiled.  
"What about the others?" Brio asked.  
Back inside, Tiko was on a ladder on the way up the boiler, holding onto Kiwi's feathers as tight as he could.  
"How about I put the parrot into the Birdie Boiler!" he smirked as he placed Kiwi in the top of the boiler, which started to turn red.  
"Oh no... NOT THE BIRDIE BOILER!"  
The boiler gave out a light explosion. Because of that, Kiwi was sent flying high in the room, screaming as loud as she can... but as soon as she reached the ceiling... she banged her head and was sent plummeting to the floor. As that happened, Tiko started laughing vilely.  
"HEY YOU!!" said Bubble's voice.  
Tiko turned around to face him. "Hey you what?"  
"Why don't you pick on somebody your own size?"  
"Like... you?"  
"Oops..."  
"Oh Bubble, you've BLOWN it!" frowned Travis from nearby.  
Tiko leapt from the top of the boiler down towards the floor below, ready to body slam on top of Travis and Bubble. Both of them cowered in the corner, screaming their heads off.

* * *

As all this was going on, things were not looking too good for the others. Snappy and Corona were sent flying across the room into an air vent... and the shutters closed as soon as they came in.  
"Oh no!!!" Gadget exclaimed with a frown.  
"Oh YES!" Soup smiled as he showed his biceps off. "Is that skill or is that skill?"  
The wolverines shook their heads.  
"What?" Soup asked them.  
" You may have more muscle than Hulk Hogan", started Neo, "but that doesn't mean that you're skilful, you big headed brute!"  
"Awww, thank you!" Soup smiled. "That's the nicest thing anybody has said about me!"  
Everyone else rolled their eyes.  
That left Soup to swing his club down to the ground. "So what are you waiting for? Bring it on!"  
"Yeah - we were just the appetizers!" said Snappy's voice from the airvent.  
"Appetizers?!?"  
Neo gave off an ambitious nod. "Here comes the main course!"  
Gadget started giggling with him. "You bet!"  
The wolverines leapt towards Sgt. Soup and landed on all their feet. As soon as they touched down, they started growling.  
Soup then aimed his club towards them. "Stay away from me, you miserable mutts!"  
He immediately swiped his club down... but this caused both wolverines to split up. He looked confused for a while... until Boron jumped on his back... and removed his helmet, showing him with curly hair! This caused everyone else in the room to laugh in his face... and him to grow red with fury!  
"GET OFF MY HELMET!" Soup screamed.  
He tried to hit Boron on the head... but missed and hit HIMSELF on his head! This made him collapse in a crumpled heap.  
Boron pinned him down, and Goliath came near them, counting from one to three in barks. That left Boron to jump up and down, perform a cartwheel across the room and perform a pose, shouting "Ta-da!" at the top of his voice.  
Gadget gave out a light giggle. "Give it up for the new WCW champion!"  
"Yeah yeah, now can you PLEASE get us outta here?" said Corona's voice from the air vents.  
"Don't panic - we'll go through it", smiled Gadget.  
But behind their backs, Soup opened one eye and took an angry look for them.  
"You may have won the battle... but not the war."  
While the others were trying to free Snappy and Corona, he rose to his feet and held his club in a fighting pose. Now it started glowing a pale blue!  
"Hard luck, wimps - you're outta this place for good!"  
He came rushing with the club in his hand and was about to cause a smash to the ground with it, at their feet. But luckily enough, Neo turned to him just in time!  
"GUYS! LOOK OUT!!"  
Gadget turned around. "What the..." She then gasped. "RUN!!!"

* * *

Back at Miami Beach, the sun was already starting to set in the sky, and Misty, Chad and Brio were the remaining three on the shores. Chad was looking back at the warehouse, where no one came out for a long while. Misty sat in the sand alone deep in her thoughts. And Brio, with a twig in his hand, was drawing some technical diagrams on the sand. As the time flew further, Chad gave out a long sigh and turned back, facing the sea. As this was happening, he felt a tap on his shoulder.  
"Ah!" he shouted before turning in the direction of the tap. "Oh... it's you guys!" He turned towards Misty and Brio. "Hey everyone! Neo and Gadget have escaped alive!"  
"Oh goody", Misty said sarcastically.  
"WOW!" Brio said with widened eyes as he rushed over to the pair. "But what happened to the others?"  
"You mean the remaining four from our crew?" Neo asked before frowning. "I'm sorry... but after the attack we couldn't find them."  
"Any sign of Bubble, Kiwi and Travis?" Chad asked.  
"I haven't seen them at all since we split up", Gadget shrugged.  
"Huh, you call that an apology?" Misty growled. "Mark my words - ever since they're still inside, it'll be easy to get 'em out!"  
She tried to return to the warehouse, but Neo came and blocked her way. "But if we go back now in the state we're all in someone, or everyone, is gonna die!"  
"You're right", Chad said as he hung his head low. "We need to rest over this for the night. We'll attack when they least expect it."  
So the remaining five left the beach quietly under the red skies they're under. One sleep could be good enough to restore health... but can it be one too many? And when they go back in there, will the others be in there still alive?

-end of part 6-


	7. The Critical Rescue Mission

Sunrise came through the blocks quickly and already shone a cascading blue colour. But a figure could be made out on one of the blocks, which was easy to make out.  
Neo sat among the carrier pigeons in deep thought. The upcoming mission against Tiko and Sgt. Soup... exactly how could he cope with it? Sure he needed a positive attitude as that could make a big difference between life and death. Speaking of which, what about the others - Snappy, Boron, Goliath, Corona, Travis, Bubble and Kiwi? They've spent a whole night inside that old warehouse, but could this be one night too many? And what about his party of five? He knows that he wants to make them escape alive, but as Gadget said last night, "every battle we have someone killed" and for everyone to make it out alive would be a miracle. He looked out to the skies again, with that same concerned look, and gave out a long and worried sigh. Finally he looked down concentrating on the thoughts. Then... there were some footsteps coming up the rooftop, and out from the stairs... came Gadget.  
"Hi", she said calmly.  
Neo turned around, and gasped at the sight of her. "Gadget!!!" He stood up on both feet. "What a surprise!"  
"What exactly are you doing up here at half past six in the morning?"  
He resorted to a shrug. "I'm not sure, but the thoughts about everyone else were the cause of this."  
"Don't panic about your friends", she smiled.  
"Does it look like I'm panicking?" said Neo with a confused look.  
"Now mark my words - I can see a guarantee that you will be as safe as can be."  
He then sighed in front of her. "Gadget's a poet, and I didn't know it."  
"I heard that! Now back on topic... remember last night that I told you that someone gets killed in every battle?"  
"Exactly", Neo said. "That thought's been on my mind for a while now."  
"Well forget it this time - we will ALL survive!"  
"But I thought..."  
"Think about it - if you wanna fight well, you gotta have the attitude for it. Think positive thoughts, my friend", she winked. "It's the easiest way to win. And don't worry about the tricks that Tiko and Soup have in store - it's the weaknesses that count. We've already learnt about Soup's weakness that he always aims for his target, even though he doesn't watch himself for his own safety. But Tiko... I'm not sure about."  
"Neither do I", he said while lowering his head. "Before we met here, I never saw him in a long time."  
"Remember - focus, and have a positive attitude at all times. What have you got to say to that?"  
There was silence for a few seconds, until out came a rather dodgy remark.  
"Baby, you can lift my spirits any day of the week", Neo grinned.  
"Oh my goodness, you just said THAT?!?" Gadget's eyes widened. "How sweet!" She then took his hand, leaving them to walk towards a nearby stairway. "Now come on. It's gonna be a while before the others awaken, so how about we go for a one-on-one game of Scrabble?"  
"You bet!"  
So they both left the rooftops towards the stairs down to the main hall, where they should take their time unwinding themselves before the battle.

* * *

Two hours later, everyone else was up and around the breakfast table... along with empty bowls of cereal in front of them. At the far end of the table, Gadget looked on at her companions with determination.  
"OK, today's the big day, so try and look the part!" She stood up. "I know you may seem afraid that we may lose someone again, but if you have a very positive attitude, it's not gonna happen."  
"That's what you said in the other missions, yet we always lose someone in battle", frowned Misty.  
Gadget leant towards her. "Hey, turn that frown upside down!"  
"I know what's gonna happen, believe me. And if that's the case, make me the one to go."  
"No!!!" Chad shouted. "Misty - don't do it!"  
"What's the point?" the turtle growled. "I'm living in a world where I'm not getting any attention from anybody, someone in this room is being so big headed and the toilets are being mucked up all over the place!"  
"Well we can't blame your overdose on alcohol from last night, can we?" Neo questioned her.  
"Look at me - I'm a grown girl! I can drink all the beer that I want!" she folded her arms. "So there!!!"  
"Now listen - without your input we can't survive this mission", blinked Brio.  
"Yeah", Chad frowned viciously. "You were the reason why we failed in recent fights!"  
"Trust me - there's no way you can beat Sgt. Soup. Not even Spiky over there can slaughter him."  
"It's not Spiky, it's Neo", he said while leaning towards her. "Now read - my - lips! I know that you think there's no way of getting out of this mess..."  
"Other than a time machine", Misty whispered under her breath.  
"...but if you co-operate properly this time, we'll ALL be survivors!" Neo smiled. "One slip, and you'll be facing this problem for time to come."  
"But..."  
"So which world would you rather live in - a pain-infested world thanks to the 'Terrible Two' or a peaceful world like the one before, even though some of us could be dead?"  
She thought long and hard through this, but she had different thoughts through it. Even though she hates him, she doesn't have a choice but to let them see the dreaded future up ahead. She then looked up... with a confident smile.  
"Let's get ready to rumble!!"  
The remaining four cheered and looked on at the path outside the room.  
"Hey, now that you seem more confident, how about we go show them what we're all about!!!" Chad smiled.  
So they stormed out of the back door pretty quickly, and raced on towards Miami Beach. Time is running out already - what are the others doing if they are still alive? And if not, how did they end up in the situation they're in? Either way, Tiko and Soup are now on the road to punishment.

* * *

The door to the warehouse's main room opened once more, and this time it gave out a fair bit of dark light. Then two feet stepped into the room - one of them with a dark boot, the other with a brown hiking shoe. Finally the door opened widely, and Tiko and Soup stepped into the room and made their way to the other side. The lights were turned on, chasing the dark shadows away from their spots, and now in the light... the remaining people in the good alliance were sitting on metal chairs, all tied up! Sgt. Soup got out his club once more and started taking his time to going up to them. With that, some of them were nervous, Travis being no exception - his head was shaking and sweat was pouring down the side of his face!  
Finally he came to a stop a metre in front of them.  
"Any last words?"  
Bubble growled in front of him. "TELL ME YOUR PLAN, JERK!!"  
Soup then squealed with anger. He held the club high above his head and was about to hit Bubble on the head as hard as hard can be when... Tiko rushed to him and took a hold of his hand.  
"Not yet - before their punishment they'd better learn about our evil scheme. Then when we slaughter them, they can't tell anyone about it!"  
"Ah yeah!" smiled Soup.  
"What was the milk for?" Travis asked curiously.  
"I plan to smuggle these across the town, and when they drink out of it they will turn to the dark side. And after that, they will bow down to me as their ruler!!!" Tiko smirked.  
"So?" blinked Kiwi. "One city isn't good enough."  
"Ah, but this is where the clever part comes in", smirked Soup. "From this town we will build an army and using that, no one will stop us from traveling around the world and taking over it!!!"  
"Our first stop will be the northern city of Washington D.C." Tiko smiled with determination. "The president will suffer from our wrath!"  
"Hey, just because you're master criminals it doesn't mean that your plans are good", Snappy roared back.  
"WHAT?!" Soup blinked towards him.  
"If I'd classify you as a criminal, I'd say that you're King Kong."  
"Why?" Corona asked the alligator.  
"Because both of them have a brain the size of an electron!"  
"AT LEAST I KNOW WHAT THEY ARE, THANK YOU!!" Soup brawled back.  
"Sheesh, don't get your underpants in a twist." He turned towards the others with a blink. "If you want to do a situation like this, don't try this at home!" He then paused for several seconds before winking. "Do it at school."  
"THIS IS AN OUTRAGE!!!" Tiko shouted before looking towards Soup. "Give him the club!"  
"Yes sir!"  
He took the club and lifted it up to a high height... and aimed directly for Snappy's head!

* * *

Whilst all this was going on, a sound of footsteps could be heard from further up the corridors of the warehouse. They came closer and closer... and we saw them as the remaining five!  
"There are the wooden doors up ahead!" Misty exclaimed.  
"Excellent job!" Chad smiled towards her. "I'm glad we've finally knocked your sense into you..."  
"Oh, it was nothing", she said while looking up suspiciously.  
Gadget smiled. "Now all we have to do is get in, find the others, take them out and-"  
Suddenly, a big bang occurred. Everyone panicked at the sound of it, and came to a sudden stop.  
"Gunfire!!!" Neo shouted as he started sprinting towards the door. "You just wait - I'll try and find out what they're doing!"  
"Yes, but keep your wits at all times!!!" Brio shouted from the sidelines.  
As soon as he reached the fork, both doors were slightly open again, and as he turned to the door to the conference room... he peeked in and saw something unfold. Then he gasped.  
"What is it?" Gadget asked. "Is there something wrong?"  
Neo then turned towards her, with a depressed look showing on his face. "I'd hate to tell you this, but..."  
"YOU DOWNRIGHT PLONKER!!" boomed Tiko's voice from behind the doors.  
"They're in there", Neo smiled as he pointed towards the conference room doors, "and they're still alive!"  
"YEE-HAW!" Gadget squealed happily with a spring in her step before turning towards the others. "Hey come on - we're home free so far!!!"  
"What?!?" Brio said with widened eyes. "YES!"  
"So much for the Death Parade", blinked Misty.  
"Quick", commanded Chad. "If we go in now then we'll be able to make it through! Let's go!!!"  
The doors swung open violently, and in came the good alliance, ready for a good fight. As they looked around the room, they saw Tiko and Soup quarrelling at each other, and the remaining seven, all tied up. Then they saw shattered pieces of black metal on the ground. They all looked at each other... and winked.  
"HEY! STOP WINKING AND GET US OUTTA HERE!!!" shouted Snappy's voice.  
"SNAPPY!!" Neo gasped as he ran towards him.  
"Careful m'lad", said Chad with caution. "You never know what they could have done to him!"  
But he didn't pay any attention. He just continued going across to the others, and when he came to them he went in the darkness, so that he could hardly be seen.  
"Listen guys", he smiled. "Now that we're here we'll try and take you guys out one by one."  
"But what if they stopped quarrelling and noticed us making our escape?" Travis frowned.  
"Calm down Travis - if they notice us, we'll be ready for an attack. Now just hang on", Neo smiled as he brought out a pair of giant scissors from behind him. "We'll have you out in no time."  
"Yeah, the sooner the better!" Bubble grinned. "I can't bear to put up in a dark atmosphere like this!"  
There was silence between them all for a while, and as he looked on, he saw the others waiting for their cue. He stuck his thumb up, and then the others came over, with great stealth.  
But as they ran, Chad accidentally tripped up, causing a loud clang on the floor, and for the enemies to be silenced.  
"Did I hear something?" Tiko asked Soup.  
"If that's the case, it has to be in the form of…" He turned around, facing Chad, lying on the floor. "A TRAITOR!!!!!!"  
Chad gave out a squeal, trying to back away from him. While that happened, Tiko brought out a giant red gun from under his cape.  
"And any traitors on our land will be immediately... terminated!"  
There was the pull of the trigger - it gave out a bang, firing a strong bullet. And it got Chad directly on the chest! He started suffering from a bad injury, but he eventually managed to stand up.  
"CHAD!" Misty shouted towards him.  
"ANOTHER ONE!!!" Tiko shouted as he started firing again.  
Quickly Misty grabbed Chad and dragged him back into the main corridors, avoiding the gunfire on the way.  
"I have a bad feeling that they've spotted us", Neo frowned.  
"Don't panic", shouted Snappy. "Free us and we'll be able to help you out!"  
"We'll try!" Gadget smiled over to them.  
She immediately grabbed a hold of the ropes, and cutted Snappy out... with her teeth! Then she came over to Bubble and freed him with the same method. Finally she went for Travis, who got out easily! Having seen that, Neo looked on at Boron, Goliath and Corona, and freed them with the scissors. Brio saw Kiwi on the smallest chair, in the middle of them all, so he grabbed her body and pulled her out!  
"Mind my rib cage - it's delicate!" the parrot screamed over to Brio.  
"Sorry...!"  
"THEY'RE FREE!!" Tiko squealed over to Soup angrily.  
"Don't squeal at me - I'll take them out!" Soup smirked.  
"You best do, or else!" Tiko said as he placed a jetpack on his back. "I'm outta here - I'm gone from this state for good!"  
So he blasted out of the building from the roof, and this left Sgt. Soup to take on the others.  
"Careful guys - this means business", frowned Neo, while looking on at Boron growling next to him. "I know you want to take him on, but he seems tougher than last time."  
All of a sudden, Goliath screamed and started leaving the room, leaving Gadget's expression to show curiosity.  
"Hey, where are you going?"  
It wasn't long until Boron started following him, leaving stained footsteps across the steel floors.  
"Hoo boy", sighed Corona. "I bet those hound dawgs are gonna suffer."  
"For now... I guess it's up to the rest of us", shrugged Neo.  
"And this time, we're tougher than ever before!" Gadget said as she charged towards Soup.  
"No, wait!" Brio screamed towards her.  
But it was already too late, as Gadget immediately tackled Soup with a head butt and then jumped right over him! He then grabbed Tiko's gun, and started shooting that, but she picked up a piece of the floor and blocked the shots from it, and when the fire stopped... she tossed it like a boomerang... and hit him on the head, as well as breaking the helmet!  
"OH NO!" he screamed towards her. "You've got a price to pay!"  
He loaded his gun again, and this time she had no chance of escape. Cornered in, the guns quickly were fired, and she started cowering.  
But... a few seconds later, she still didn't feel a single shot to her body! She looked ahead of her... and saw Neo with the piece of the floor in his possession!  
"WOW!!!" she screamed. "You've saved my life!!!"  
"No problem Gadget", he deviously smiled. "I'm here to stick up for everybody no matter what happens!"  
"DARN!!!!" Soup exclaimed as he kicked the gun across the floor.  
"I'll take the control from here", Neo nodded towards Gadget. "Watch out, because I have a way to get round all this!"  
"Thanks!"  
"Hey, two can play at that game!!!" Soup screamed as he picked up another piece of the floor.  
As they looked on at each other, the others made their escape quickly… but it was all interrupted by a rapid shaking in the room, followed by the room caving in.  
"I wasn't expecting THAT coming in play", Neo blinked.  
"EARTHQUAKE!!" panicked Soup, standing upon his tiptoes.  
They both raced each other for the door, trying to hit each other with their floorboards. Within the time... they both failed at hitting each other, and they were both neck and neck! Finally they reached the door, and only just... Neo came out of the door first, and slammed it in Soup's face, showing his face print on it! He slipped his floorboard through the lock, so that... he can't get out! Then a fire erupted from the boiler, causing him to panic a bit more! As he ran, another figure could be made out - two figures rather - they are Chad and Gadget!  
"Hey Neo!" Gadget shouted towards him. "Over here!!!"  
At this stage, they were a fair distance between the erupting fire, and with that, Neo slowed down to reach the two of them.  
"What happened here?" he asked her.  
"Boron and Goliath destroyed the boiler, and are out there safely, with the others. We've tried to make our escape, but my dad's been limping behind for a while now."  
"I..." Chad said faintly. "I can't go on like this..."  
"Stay calm soldier - we'll take you out!" Neo smiled towards him.  
"Be careful", Gadget squealed. "The fire's coming this way!"  
Neo gave out a gasp. "Best make a run for it!"  
Quickly he placed Chad in his arms, and dashed out of the area, and Gadget soon ran and followed him.  
The fire zoomed past the camera, and they were both up close to the exit, but... they don't seem to be going anywhere! They looked down... and a conveyor belt is carrying them back towards the fire pretty quickly! Gadget hung onto Neo's shoulder, as they struggled to get past the area. Then by some surprise... it quickly stopped, and they started running again, with the flames up close to them!  
"I can't hold on much longer!" Gadget squealed.  
"GADGET!!!" Neo shouted towards her. "HANG ON!!"  
But as soon as he finished speaking, she slipped behind, but she managed to dodge the flames, and sped up, overtaking the others. Then as they came to the exit... the door closed on them!  
Quickly, Gadget jumped into a small opening above the blocked exit, and as soon as she jumped up, a stream of fire can be seen throughout the area. She looked down, and had worry spelt across her face. Are Neo and Chad still OK down there? She had to find out!  
And the question was soon answered, as they came up, with sweat pouring down their faces! That way, they made their run again, and this time... the fire came up the passageway! But she didn't realize the danger from behind her.  
"GADGET!!" Neo shouted towards her.  
She gasped and turned around. "What the...?"  
He was slowing down and was no more than a centimetre away from the flames!  
"Hang on!" she shouted towards him.  
"NO! It's too late!!!"  
"But..."  
"If you see Tiko again, take care of him for me!!!"  
And after that, Neo and Chad both went into the flames, and they couldn't be made visible from there. Quickly she continued running further and further.  
There was a light at the end of the tunnel, and she was no more than a few inches away from the flames, and as she quickly stepped her foot out, the fire seemed like it was touching her...

* * *

"Soup?" Tiko's voice was heard on a cellphone. "Soup, can you hear me? SOUP?!? NOOO!"

* * *

The midday sun can be seen through here, as the warehouse can now be seen as a worse wreck than it was to start with! Through one of the holes, Gadget was seen running across the shores, towards the others, whom were all waiting. Finally she stopped at their feet.  
"Hey Gadget - nice to see you out!" Misty smiled towards her.  
"Yeah, but... I've got some good news and some bad news", she frowned.  
"What's the good news?" asked Corona.  
"The good news is that the building has been burnt out, telling us that Sergeant Oxtail Soup... we think... is now dead."  
Everyone started cheering and celebrating.  
"But the bad news", Gadget started again, "is that Neo and Chad didn't-"  
"OVER HERE!!" said a nearby voice.  
Gadget gasped before turning behind her, seeing Neo coming towards her. "YOU'RE ALIVE!! YEAH!!"  
Everyone turned to him, and they saw him with Chad in his arms this time around! The cheering went wilder and wilder than it ever has been before!  
"I knew we would do it with his help!!!" Corona smiled.  
"Yeah, and for some reason", Misty smiled, "I feel happy for him."  
"What?" Bubble suddenly asked her.  
"It's best living in a world where the enemy is down rather than where he's up. So I'd like to congratulate him."  
As they spoke, he came closer and closer to them, with a proud look on his face.  
Finally he made a stop, and he placed Chad down on his feet... who collapsed as soon as he was let go.  
"DAD!" Gadget gasped towards him.  
He tried to get up, but he just couldn't. Gadget started to have a worried look on her face now.  
"Please... what's wrong?"  
"The gunfire", Chad responded with a faint voice.  
"What?"  
"Give me somewhere to rest. The gunfire has caused a bad effect on me..."  
He was left to lie down upon his back, upon the sandy shores. While that happened, several tears started to show upon her face.  
"No... don't rest now - stay awake. Please... don't go..."  
"Yes... but I'll wake up", he whispered.  
"Good."  
"In heaven..."  
Gadget sniffed sadly. "What?"  
"I have lived long enough to see my dream come true... and now... like Dr. Brio before me... I shall move on to a new mission..."  
Gadget gave in a worried inhale. "No... please..."  
"Remove... my bandana."  
And so she did, slowly but carefully.  
"If there's any chance of evil returning", Chad started speaking, "I am counting on you to make the dreams... come true..."  
"No", she continued to sob.  
"And finally..." Chad brought his attention towards Neo and the others. "Neo... I want to thank you... for your courage in helping us... it'll be great to have you... to be a great help in the future... and your cub Boron... I'll be happy... to classify him... as a Private... he showed bravery in the previous mission... and now he'd be happy to have the title."  
"Any time", Neo nodded, trying to hold back a small tear showing on one of his eyes. "But... it'll be horrible to see you go. Please don't..."  
"Sorry... but now... it's my only choice... I'll be looking up to you... in the city in the sky..."  
Gadget gasped with a quivering lip. "Please no..."  
"I love you all..."  
Gadget gave out a deep breath, trying to hold back her tears while speaking to him. "We all love you too..."  
"I'll remain in your heart for time... to come..."  
"No..." she sniffed. "Dad!"  
"I'll... be... by... your... siiiiiiiide..." he said before limping on the ground and closing his eyes.  
Gadget sniffed again. "Dad?"  
There was no response. She lifted his arm, and it dropped down. She placed her ear to his mouth... but he wasn't breathing. Then she placed her ear to her heart... and there was no pulse. Her crying went from bad to worse - she buried her head deep into his chest, and tears can be seen dripping down terribly. Charles Medulla IV... is dead.

* * *

It wasn't long until night started to show, and darkness overlapped the city, with smoke being seen coming through the atmosphere.  
Everyone living in the block were surrounding a bright fire, and this was no ordinary fire. Now, Chad's body is being cremated. Everyone looked on with mourning looks on their faces, especially Gadget, who was shredding tears in her eyes.  
"I know your feelings", said Neo as he stroked her on her back, "but I'm afraid everyone has to lose a special person at some stage of their lives."  
"Yes, but..." she moaned sadly. "You don't understand. My father... was the closest relation to me since my mother and my siblings...!"  
"I know, but..." Neo gave out a sigh. "I know for sure that Chad was a nice man who lived a great life, fighting crime and defending the state. Having used speed as much as he could, he was a perfect icon, serving the city well. But now, he's gone... and he's achieved a dream of clearing the toughest enemies around."  
"Why do you say that?" Gadget said while looking onto him with bloodshot eyes.  
"Now that Sgt. Soup is gone, he can't kill anyone else."  
She wiped her face clean of some of her tears. "As for Mozzarella Cheese?"  
"She'd be in jail by now. I know that she has a magic finger and all, but what we know is that she's physically weaker than she was before. So no matter what... she can't go and kill you."  
Gadget didn't take any notice. She continued sobbing at the sign of her father's burning body.  
"I know this mission is over, but how about we stay with you for another week, just to help you calm your nerves", Neo nodded towards her.  
Gadget sniffed again, but turned back towards him, with tears in her eyes. Even though it's all over now, there is still a heart out there to save her soul.

* * *

_-ONE WEEK LATER-_

The same cream colored jeep can be seen outside, parked on the road. The main doors opened from the apartment block, and out came Snappy, with two suitcases full of luggage. He came to a sudden stop at the back of the car, and tossed them in the boot. As he was placing the luggage inside, Bubble came out through the doors, rushing over to him.  
"Snappy, you can't go yet!" Bubble said to him.  
"Why not?" the alligator asked as he turned his head towards him.  
"I know that you've been here for over a week now, but you've still to try and help me catch Goliath and evolve him!"  
"Hey, relax", Snappy smiled. "I know that you like evolving animals, but think about it. What's the point at the end of the day, when there's no Sgt. Soup anymore?"  
"Er..." Bubble looked on at himself with a puzzled look.  
"Think about it. What else do you need him for - a butler?"  
Bubble then turned around to face the block of flats in front of him. "I guess you could be right there. If Boron gets a chance of seeing him again, then I don't think he likes the sound of evolved animals in an area like this."  
"What about Corona and Misty?" Snappy asked.  
"Well, with the exception of the "Florida Freedom Fighters", the starfish replied with an abrupt cough."  
"Nice alliteration", winked the alligator.  
"Thanks!"  
As they spoke, everyone else came out from the building, seeing the goodbyes unfold.

* * *

Well, not quite everyone. As for Neo and Gadget... they were round the back areas, where they were now standing next to a plot of grass with a wooden Christian cross on it.  
"Now", she said with a deep breath, "I'm not the best of goodbyes, but thank you for making this week a lot easier for me."  
"No problem", Neo smiled back. "Why?"  
"First you helped me get over my feelings for my father", she said while looking down at the cross. "As a matter of fact, he'd be with us in this apartment for time to come. Secondly", she continued speaking while looking towards her belly, "I'd like to thank you for a future gift."  
"Any time. Remember the method - take a male and a female, put them together and in nine months all your dreams will come true", he winked towards her.  
"You sweet thing!" she giggled towards him. "And thirdly, you've been a bigger help to everyone else's lives as well. As you said, no one can slaughter us, now that Sgt. Soup is gone."  
"Don't give all the credit to me - you need some as well."  
"Really?" Gadget asked with widened eyes.  
"Exactly. If it weren't for you, my time in defeating Tiko and Soup would be much more difficult."  
"Oh, thank you!" she smiled while bringing him slightly closer. "Hey, how about we go for a couple of good luck presents before your departure."  
"I'd be more than happy to!"  
"First I'll give you this as a token of my greatest gratitude."  
She hands him... a suitcase. As he opened it he saw a blues guitar, looking finer than ever.  
"You need this more than I do", she said. "I can't even play the thing."  
"Neither can I, so why bother?"  
"You'll soon learn from the instruction manual inside the case."  
"Thanks", Neo nodded. "And what's the second gift?"  
Gadget then came closer towards him, "Brace yourself, because you'll be thinking all about this", she responded with a wink.  
And with that, the wind blew further and further towards them, until it formed a cyclone around them. Their heads come closer as well... until their lips touched and they performed a lengthy kiss under the gust. Gadget's hair was moving in the wind, as well as a few blades of grass from underneath them. Finally, the gust faded out, and the lips left each other.  
"Now I DEFINITELY won't be forgetting that!" Neo smiled towards her.  
"Really? Hey, I see a future ahead of us. Misty told me... that you could be the man of my dreams."  
"You're joking!!!"  
"No I'm not. I know that you're leaving the area now, but I can sense that someday... you'll be back."  
"Thanks", he smiled, before sighing. "Looks like I have to go and finish off with my life long dream."  
"Which is?" she asked.  
"To imprison my siblings for life."  
"Good, good!" she glanced towards her eyes, showing a mixture of panic and determination. "Good luck!"  
They both shook hands, and with that, Neo finally turned away from her and walked slowly towards the front of the block. After a few steps he took a mischievous glance over his shoulder, to see Gadget, looking depressed. After 20 seconds he turned back towards the vehicle, where everyone else was crowding round. As soon as he got there, everyone moved out of his way, and the others hopped in first. Finally he came in to the driver's seat, started the engine, stepped on the gas, and left the area at so far 20km/h. Meanwhile, Gadget looked on, and saw them leave the area. She looked up, and saw a metal ladder leading to the rooftops. So she immediately climbed up it, and whilst she was half way up, she could already see her hero, driving off into the open roads of the state.

* * *

As they were driving off to another location, there were still a few doubts about where to go.  
"How far is it to Columbus?" Neo asked the others.  
Another sign came across, revealing the answer.  
"About 1150 km from here", shrugged Brio as he read it.  
"Here we go again", Snappy growled.  
Boron gave out a worried howl.  
"Hoo boy..." Neo sighed and remained silent for five seconds. "How far is it to Los Angeles?"  
Snappy couldn't help but laugh. Then the sign came up saying the answer... and a little more.  
"About 2795km from here", Brio read from it before turning to Snappy, "and it's not funny."  
"Who wants to go to LA at this time?" he chuckled back.  
"Oh come on, the day's still young." Brio then looked towards Neo with a curious glance around him. "Ain't that right?"  
Even though his control on the road was still as good, there was a sign of depression on his face.  
"Awww, I know that you miss your home", Brio started, "but what else can we do?"  
"It's not my home", Neo said to him. "It's... Gadget..."  
"Say what?"  
"I'm afraid that I might never find a girl like her ever again."  
"Oh cheer up, there's still plenty of fish in the sea. There's bound to be one for your needs, right?"  
No response.  
"RIGHT?" Brio repeated again.  
Still no response. What he didn't realise... was that Neo was lost in his own thoughts, though he's driving OK. The thoughts showed almost every movement of Gadget within his mind, all the way from where they met in the ruined funfair, straight through to when they gave off their last handshake in her back yard.  
"Earth to Neo!" Brio said as he waved his hand in front of him.  
"Houston, we have a problem", blinked Snappy.  
"Wh... what?" Neo said, regaining his senses.  
"Never mind", the alligator shrugged.  
"As I was saying", Brio repeated, "there were plenty more fish in the sea where that came from."  
"I know, but she's the one for me", he frowned. "I'd never find anyone like that again."  
He lowered his head towards the gas pedals. While that happened, another sign came past them, this time saying 'Cheer up, bud!'  
"Told you those signs can talk to us!" winked Snappy.  
"Er, thanks", Neo smiled sheepishly.  
"Look at things this way", Brio started speaking again. "We have a dream to accomplish here, and that's to make sure your siblings are at rest, and that's what we're here for, right?"  
"Good point", Neo winked back. "I know that we may have lost a hearted soul, but we'll lose a million more if we're not careful."  
"Why's that?" Brio asked him.  
"From this experience, I have learnt one thing - one can make all the difference."  
"So?" Snappy puzzled, with Boron responding with a confused bark near him.  
"Why one?" Brio questioned Neo.  
"You never know what could happen when we have a few additions to our side, and they made a difference to me." He then looked on ahead of him. "For now, we need to complete the dreams and see the differences that lie ahead... as the foursome we are."  
And so they continued driving up the deserted highway, looking forward to the challenges ahead.

* * *

Back with Gadget, she was seen looking over the top of the block of flats, seeing her dreams vanish over the horizon. She also had a few tears in her eyes, but then again, she can't help it. She pulled out Chad's bandana from her pockets and waved it high in the air, then a few seconds later she removed her headband and put it on. She then saw a can of lager at her feet, and showing how broken- hearted she is inside she kicked it off the building and looked back at her belly. Finally she looked up at the sky, and smiled. Neo has a future ahead of him, and it looks bright. Gadget also has a future ahead of her... and it's destined to make her a proud woman, with a future filled with her own signs of destiny.

-fin-

* * *

_"Schoolhouse Rock: The Lost Chronicle" is © Rexy 2001. Neo Cortex and Nitrus Brio are © Universal Interactive Studios 1996-2001. All other characters are © Rexy 2000-2001. All rights reserved._


End file.
